Winter's Lonely Visitor
by BK27
Summary: Orihime helps a stranger who collapsed at her door during a brutal winter storm. Who is this man, and why does she not want him to leave?
1. Chapter 1

**Winter's Lonely Visitor**

The snow beat on the window like it was trying to break in. The howling wind, the taps at the window, the pure darkness outside was why Orihime loved being inside where it was warm and cozy. She turned off the light and looked out the window from the couch. She could barely see out the window. The snow was traveling horizontally and the drifts were easily formed on her windows and door. Her home was small and comfortable. Though she lived in northern Hokkaido, Japan, her house looked more European than others in the area. The front door led straight into the living room, so she had to place a rug down for the shoes. To the right was the dining room, followed by the kitchen behind that. Down the hallway that was centered in the house were the two bedrooms to the left and the bathroom to the right. The kitchen had a back door that had an enclosed area where she kept more shoes and various other items that were needed. Her garage was to the right of the house. The area where she lived was rather remote, with just one neighbor across the road. She rarely saw them. They were an older couple and kept to themselves. She had a bakery that she kept open for three seasons and closed down while the harsh winters held her at home most days. Orihime didn't like driving in the snow. There was just something that always kept her at home when the snow fell. Sure it was beautiful, but it felt to her that the snow would swallow her up one day.

This night felt calm to her. She almost felt like a heaviness had been lifted from her and her slight aversion to the winter. She cuddled up with her favorite shows and left the lamp on a low setting.

"Ahhh, now this is nice. Mmm."

She watched her shows with heavier lids, and soon, she was sent to dreamworld. In her dream, she saw a tall man with bright orange hair running in her yard. She also saw three children running after him. Though she could not see their faces, they all looked to be having fun. The man abruptly turned and starts running away from the kids. The kids give chase only to have the man disappear in front of them. They all stop, the sun casting them in a silhouette as they all being to cry. In the dream she could hear knocking. Her mind began to wake as the sound didn't mix with the dream. Her eyes fluttered open as the sound of the knocking came into full awareness. She sat up quickly. The blanket falling to her lap. She took a few more seconds to adjust and looked at her clock. It read 3:13am. Orihime got up slowly,

"Who is it?"

No answer. Orihime put her ear to the door. All she heard was wind.

"Hello?"

No answer. She started to panic and raced to the kitchen. She found her trusty chef knife and gave a few swipes at the air. She ran back to the door and listened again. Nothing but the wind again. She gulped and opened the door slowly with the blade hidden behind her back. She opened the door fully to be greeted with a barrage of snow. Her breath froze and she coughed at the feeling. She didn't see anything right away, so she flipped on her light. She looked around and still only saw the snow. She stepped out a step, only to be greeted by something warm. She jumped back and looked down in shock to what was laying face down in front of her. It was a person, a man. His orange hair sent a brief memory of her dream back and she looked in confusion at what was in front of her. Finally her brain kicked in and she realized this person needed help.

"Oh no! Sir, are you alright? Here let me help you up."

The man simply groaned. Orihime picked him up from under his arms and lifted the best she could. As she picked him up, she noticed the blood. She shrieked softly.

"What should I do?! Towel, that's it!"

She pulled him in the rest of the way inside, the snow still finding its way inside. She turned him over onto his back and with some effort, closed the door. She sighed and looked behind her at the man now sprawled out on her floor. Without looking at his face, she ran to the kitchen, put down her knife, and found all the towels she had. She ran over and knelt over the man, her hair dripping onto his jacket. Frantically, she looked for a wound. She pulled off the jacket as best she could with all of his groans and was able to find a pool of blood gathered near his heart. She pressed on it and looked to find other wounds. She only saw scraps everywhere else. What had happened to him she wondered.

"Hey, are you alright?"

She finally looked at his face. Her breath forgot where to go, and she lessened her pressing slightly as she gazed into the eyes that felt like they were taking her heart. She looked away quickly and continued pressing on the wound, with a grunt from the man to show she may have pressed too hard. A few minutes passed in silence as she ran to the kitchen several times, throwing the towels in the sink and grabbing a bowl of water. She ran back and fidgeted for a bit before asking.

"Can I take off your shirt? I want to clean the wound."

Slowly the man nodded and she slipped a towel underneath him, then lifted the shirt slowly, taking care not to hit the wound. She gasped slightly at his obvious toned form. This was all a little too embarrassing for her, but she knew she was the only one who could help him now, and she wasn't going to let some silly feeling get in the way. She cleaned off the would, which looked to be rather deep and about the length of her fingers. After several more minutes, it looked like the wound had stopped bleeding. Orihime was a bit puzzled as it looked too deep for just simple pressure to stop it. She shrugged it off and washed off the remnants of blood on his chest. He was surprisingly quiet this whole time. She had asked him several questions, but he said nothing. She came back from fetching the gauze and tape she had in the bathroom and knelt by him again.

"Thank you"

"Eh?"

"I said thank you for helping me."

"Oohh..heh...yeah no problem. You were on my doorstep. I couldn't just leave you there. My name's Inoue Orihime. What's your name?"

"Kurosaki Ichigo."

"Nice to meet you Kurosaki-san. Now would you mind telling me what happened to have such harsh wounds on a night like this?"

Ichigo's eyes closed slightly and he looked away.

"There was a car accident. My car hit something, I'm not sure what it was. I walked down the road looking for anyone that might still be awake. I saw your light on and here I am. you don't have to be so polite with me either. "

"Were you lost? Not too many people travel this road, Kurosaki-_kun._"

"Yeah...I was lost...But you found me Inoue."

Her face heated up and she simply smiled and giggled with embarrassment. She helped him up and took the towels and jacket from under him.

"I think I still have some old clothes of my brother's when he lived here. If you'd like, I can give you those and I can wash your other clothes. They are pretty dirty and your jacket has a hole. I can fix that."

"Yeah."

Orihime smiled and gathered all the clothes while Ichigo stayed where he was and looked around. He smiled slightly and looked at his hands.

"Good, still I shouldn't waste all my energy."

He looked up to find that Orihime had come back with the clothes and a towel.

"Feel free to use the bathroom to the right to take a shower if you need. I have a futon that you can use in the spare room."

Ichigo nodded and went to the bathroom. Orihime picked up a bit and flopped herself on her couch.

"What a night!" She exclaimed to no one. She tilted her head back and drifted off to sleep until Ichigo came back out.

"Orihime?"

She shot up and looked at Ichigo with a sad face, yet smiled.

"If you don't mind, can we sit and chat for a bit? I know you just got hurt, but I'd like to know more about the man who is going to be sleeping in the next room."

"Alright, shoot."

"Well, where are you from? Are you married? Do you have kids? Why are you driving in a blizzard?"

"Karakura, no, no, lost going to sister's house."

"Oh...well...I...uh..oh I'm not good at this sort of thing. Just promise me you're not a serial killer and going to smother me in my sleep."

Ichigo chucked lightly.

"I promise."

"Ok, well then tell me everything about yourself."

Ichigo looked at her half closed eyes and began telling her random stories about his sisters, how he doesn't get along with his father, how his mother died years ago. He asked her how long she had been in the house and she said 4 years. He asked where her brother was and she barely got out that he died in a car accident 3 years ago. As Ichigo was offering condolences, Orihime mumbled and was off to dream another dream. Ichigo leaned her back onto the couch and put the blanket on her. He shut off the light and walked down to the first bedroom.

"Goodnight Orihime."

**Note: Thank you for reading. This story is based on a dream I've had many times. My SAO story is also based on a dream. I never see the characters in my dream, so I add them in later. Thank you for the reviews. I've made some changes to this chapter. I'm still very new to this fan fiction/writing thing and any help helps me improve. **


	2. Chapter 2

Orihime woke unrefreshed. Her head hurt and it felt like some invisible force was keeping her held down. This was not her idea of a good morning. She rolled off the couch, ignoring the man sitting at the table, and headed straight for the coffee. She poured herself a cup and found her favorite flavored creamer in the fridge. Once she was satisfied with the flavor, she took the first big sip of her perfect cup.

"Mmm..yummy."

She walked past the dining room table and on her way towards the living room, she paused. She gripped her mug tight and slowly turned around to see the man sitting back in the chair.

"Yo!" Ichigo said quickly with a wave.

Orihime shrieked and pointed her mug at him, sending some coffee down her hand.

"Ghost!"

Ichigo's eyes widened, then he leaned back more and chuckled.

"It's only been 5 hours Inoue, I hope you'd remember me." Orihime blinked a few times.

"Oohh..of course. Kurosaki-kun, I'm sorry, I'm not much of a morning person." She placed her hand on her cheek, trying to hide her reddened face beneath an embarrassed chuckle.

"It's alright."

A moment went by and Orihime could feel the drips of coffee on her hand, so she ran over to the kitchen to clean up.

"Don't get many visitors this time of year, do ya?"

"No, not in the winter. My friend Tatsuki-chan comes by sometimes, but that's about it."

Ichigo nodded. He sighed and let out the next part slowly.

"What about boyfriends?"

She hid her face behind the half wall of the kitchen to hide her immediate blush.

"N..no."

"Really? How old are you, 18? You should have all the guys all over you."

"I..I'm 20, and I'm not interested!" Orihime couldn't believe he had asked such a personal question. Silence traveled through the air for what seemed to be an eternity until Ichigo finally spoke.

"We're the same age. Imagine that..." He seemed like he trailed off. Orihime peeked her head out and could see Ichigo's expression looking sad.

"Are you alright? How's your wound? Do you need me to out more bandages on?"

Ichigo's eyes looked up, and she could see a different expression. It wasn't exactly sad, just blank.

"I'm fine."

"Oh good, I'm glad. Hey did you eat yet? I have these strawberry mochi that are amazing with hot sauce."

His eyes brightened and he chuckled, shaking his head.

"I'll be fine. I should be heading out. I saw that you got plowed out."

Orihime's bright smile lowered and she could feel her heart racing through her chest. This confused her.  
_He's just some stranger that got hurt and is now leaving. This is just you being lonely and wanting company._

"Inoue?"  
_  
Why is my heart still racing? Slow down, slow down!_

"Inoue?"

She looked up and her bright smile returned.

"Great! I'm glad you're feeling better. If you need to stay here longer, you definitely can. I won't mind. If you need to leave, I can walk you to your car."

Ichigo figited in his chair.

"It's ok. You don't have to go out in the cold for me." She looked so disappointed and even began putting out her bottom lip in an obvious pout. Ichigo messed his hair up. "Ok, fine."

"Yay! I'll go change right now!"

She stuffed three mochi into her mouth and ran towards the bedroom. He stayed in place until she returned moments later in a long light pink coat with white faux-fur trim. She motioned to the back door where her boots were. They both walked out the door and headed down the driveway. They both took the shovels to carve out a path to the plowed road. They walked along the side of the road, chatting about the weather, the local events, anything that was going on. Finally, she saw the car emerge from the blowing snow. He had hit a snow bank, but had also hit a fence, and the windshield had broken with pieces of fence all scattered around and inside the car.

"That looks pretty bad. Will you be able to run it again?" He didn't respond. She started helping him clear out the debris and shoveled with her hands the parts that were too buried in the snow bank to push out. Finally the car emerged from the snow pile and Ichigo started it up easily. Orihime was quite surprised since it looked to have taken a bit of damage from the fence and snow, plus the windshield was broken. He got out of the car and her heart started racing again. She mustered all the strength she could handle and finally let out what was on her mind for quite a while.

"It was really nice to meet you Kurosaki-kun. if you'd like, you...you can stop by for dinner sometime. I really would love to have visitors. That is, once you fix your car and get to your sister's and are feeling better. I..I just really enjoyed your company and would love to see you again."

The snow blew their hair as the cold rushed in and made Orihime shiver to the harsh winds. He was almost obscured by the amount of snow that was blowing. Finally, Ichigo's smile came through the snow like a warming light that she desperately needed.

"I'd like that. How about Friday at 7?"

_Oh my gosh! He said yes! Wow, oh man, speak lady speak!_

"Great! I'll see you then. Drive safely Kurosaki-kun."

She reached out to wave goodbye, but was suddenly being embraced. She smiled into his shoulder and gave a big hug back. He spoke into her ear.

"Thank you for doing this for me. I feel so relieved that someone finally noticed me."

He let go and she already felt alone. With her biggest smile she could muster, she gave him one final wave and he started down the road. She turned around and smiled at the road, trying to hide her blush. Just then a gust of wind came again and blew the snow around, obscuring everything. She turned around as the wind was subsiding. The car was already gone. She felt a weight on her that she didn't like.

"Please come back soon."


	3. Chapter 3

Friday arrived slower than she would have liked. Every day, sitting at home, polishing the woodwork for the third time, finding the right food from the canned goods, only to run back for a jar that didn't look as "old". Such trivial matters kept her brain elsewhere while her heart stayed strong in its anxious rythmn. Within her internal struggle, her mind happened to forget that her friend Tatsuki was dropping by on Friday as well. When the knock came, she was fixing her makeup again and didn't even notice the rythmic knocking enveloping the house. Finally, she jolted from her hypnotic application state to realize someone was knocking. She quickly finished her makeup and ran to the door. She tripped over her feet and landed at the door with a loud thud. Tatsuki's voice could be heard through the door.

"You ok in there?"

"T..Tatsuki-chan?" Her voice barely above a whisper.

She opened the door to find her confused friend staring back at her.

"He..hey Orihime. Long time no see. I brought those peaches you wanted."

Lifting up the bag revealed plenty of food for them to share, but instead of a drooling, excited expression, Orihime's was one of shock.

"No...no...no, not today Tatsuki-chan." She took Tatsuki's shoulders and started pushing her away.

"Whoa, whoa Orihime! What's up? I thought you'd be happy to see me."

The pushing stopped.

"I am. I am. It's just...I made plans tonight with someone."

Tatsuki now really looked confused.

"Seriously, who? Who would come all the way out into the absolute middle of nowhere to have dinner with you?"

Orihime let her arms fall and motioned for Tatsuki to come in.

"Who is it Orihime?"

"Just someone I met over the weeked. I helped him after he had a car accident and I wanted to cheer him up."

Tatsuki backed away from the door.

"Well if you'd rather be alone and not have me spend the weekend with you I guess I can try for a different day. See ya later."

Orihime's eyes grew wetter and her voice was shaky.

"No, stay! Please, I'm sorry. I really want you to stay. I just completely forgot you were coming over, so I was still in shock. We can all have dinner together."

Tatsuki smiled, nodded and walked through the door. She took her boots off and wiped the snow off her clothes. She gave Orihime the bag and took off her heavy coat and hung it near the door. Stretching and finally able to relax, she was looking forward to who this mystery man was. Orihime emerged with a cup of hot tea and they sat down on the couch. After a few minutes of catching up, Tatsuki finally asked when Orihime's guest was coming over. They decided that they should make the stew now so that by 7, the food would be ready. Orihime was excited to try out her new slow cooker that she had bought online. It would be the perfect way to make stew. Tatsuki was there to make sure only "normal" ingredients went into the stew. No red bean paste this time! They enjoyed their time in the kitchen, chatting away about old times and Tatsuki's many adventures as a teacher at a dojo. The next few hours flew by and it was finally almost 7. Orihime looked at her watch and couldn't seem to sit still. She finally excused herself to the bathroom and left Tatsuki wondering why she was so nervous if it was just some stranger she just met. She looked at the time, 6:58. Just then, a knock came. Tatsuki called to Orihime, but was met with silence. After waiting several moments, she decided to answer the door herself. She gave a few good punches to the air and psyched herself up to handle what was on the other side. To her surprise, what was on the other side, was nothing. She had opened the door to find no one. She looked around a bit and called out, but she could only hear the wind. When she was sure no one was there, she closed the door. As Tatsuki turned around, Orihime came back in to the living room.

"What is it Tatsuki-chan?"

Tatsuki shrugged. "Oh nothing. It must have been the wind."

As they were heading towards the couch, the door knocked again, this time a bit louder. Tatsuki motioned to Orihime.

"I'll let you get that one."

Orihime smiled and moved toward the door while Tatsuki moved towards the couch to sit. Orihime opened the door and her smile became larger as she saw who was on the other side. He wore a dark red dress shirt and black pants. He even held a few flowers, which he gave to her very eager hands. He smiled at her and looked into her eyes.

"Good evening Inoue."

"Good evening Kurosaki-kun. Glad you could make it. Please, come in."

Ichigo stepped through the door and met Tatsuki's eyes. She was trembling and her hands were in fists. Orihime hadn't noticed and offered Ichigo tea or coffee. He wanted coffee and Orihime dashed off to the kitchen to make it. Ichigo sat down on one side of the L shaped couch and introduced himself to Tatsuki. Tatsuki's mouth opened several times, but no words came out. Finally, she was able to speak in a soft tone.

"What are you?!"

Ichigo's scowl appeared. "What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean."

"I'm afraid I don't Miss, I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name."

"I didn't give it."

"It would be really impolite if Inoue had to introduce you."

Tatsuki was turning red now. "It's Arisawa Tatsuki, you bastard."

"Nice to meet you Arisawa."

Ichigo's expression remained tense, but gentle while Tatsuki's was about as far from calm as she could muster without causing a ruckus and alerting Orihime.

"You haven't answered my question. No matter how many times I blink or rub my eyes, the room around me is clear, but you...you are barely visible."

Ichigo shifted and Tatsuki scooted closer to him until they were arm's length away from each other. Her voice still low.

"I'm going to ask you one more time. What. , and what do you want with my friend!?"

Ichigo shifted away from Tatsuki and repositioned himself so he could look directly at her.

"She may be someone who can make my dream come true."

Tatsuki's brain filled with a thousand meanings for that sentance and was about to grab at his shirt when Orihime trumpeted her return to the room, causing Tatsuki to fall back. Her obvious perky state meant that she had not heard any part of the conversation, wihich pleased Tatsuki as she will have to pull Ichigo aside later to get more information out of him. For now, she was going to act like the good house guest she should be. Orihime sat down on the couch between the two and asked if they had introduced each other. When she confirmed they had, she started rambling on. Ichigo's face appeared calm while his thought were elsewhere. Tatsuki figured him out. This was going to be harder than he thought.

**Note: Sorry to end it there. The next chapter will be a nice confrontation and will explain a lot more about what Ichigo is. Kudos to those of you who figured out that Ichigo wasn't exactly normal. This story is obviously not the normal Bleach world (though you will see more familiar faces in later chapters. It's still using themes from Bleach, so not too far off) and also ichigo has not met Orihime prior to him landing on her doorstep. Thanks again for reading. I tried to not make it all dialogue this time. On to the next!**


	4. Chapter 4

Ichigo had not sensed Tatsuki for some reason. When she answered the door, he was not expecting it, and had not had the proper energy to be able to show himself to her. It took him almost 5 years to be able to have enough energy to appear solid and warm. After the door had closed, he had tried to gather enough energy to be visible to her. Sadly, he was not able to get enough in such a short time. He knew that he had to knock again or they would probably open the door again anyway. He never really liked surprises. For now, he was going to act normal around Tatsuki and hope that in time, he will gradually be solid to her as well. The only reason he was visible to Orihime was because he had plenty of time to see her outside and was able to get the right energy frequesncy for her so that he could finally make an appearance. For some reason, he could not sense someone's energy that well from inside that house. He always assumed her brother had something to do with it. Trying to protect his sister even after he had left this world. ichigo only had a small radius that he could freely travel without expelling too much energy. He knew that if his plan would to happen, he would have to leave the area, and that would be very draining. Hopefully, it could only be for short periods. This was Kurosaki Ichigo, the spirit.

Orihime excused herself from the couch and announced that it was time to eat. Ichigo and Tatsuki moved towards the table. Her eyes burning into him. When they sat down, Tatsuki finally spoke.

"How are you even going to eat? She'll notice if the entire bowl just up and leaves."

His scowl reformed. "I can eat Arisawa."

"So where does the food go? On the floor?"

"No."

"Then where?"

"In my mouth."

"Quit being an idiot."

Ichigo sighed. "Can we talk about this outside later?"

Tatsuki smiled. "I'd love to." Orihime came back with the bowls of steaming stew. Tatsuki looked with a glimer in her eyes. "Smells good, doesn't it Kurosaki?"

Ichigo smiled. "It sure does. Nice work Inoue."

Orihime smiled, turned and went back for her bowl. Tatsuki smirked and whispered.

"Be sure to pretend to blow on the food. If you just eat it right out of the bowl, she might start to question you."

Ichigo just grunted a response and began to "eat" the stew. To Tatsuki it looked normal, but she knew the food must be going to some other dimension. The meal was plesant for the most part and Tatsuki thought that Ichigo still acted like a normal person and was almost jealous at how he could still pull off so much when he was probably under a lot of stress to keep himself visible. She could see him clearly now, and almost felt bad for acting so harshly to him. She will make her final judgement after they meet. When everyone was finished, they all helped do the dishes and clean up. When they were almost finished, Tatsuki asked if she could go outside to show Ichigo some martial arts moves that she knows. Orihime said that would be nice since she wanted to clean up more. Tatsuki motioned to Ichigo and they went out the kitchen door to the driveway outside. It had cleared up and the moon was showing on the driveway, casting a shadow on Tatsuki only. Tatsuki turned and faced Ichigo. With one quick move, she had her leg to Ichigo's chest. Ichigo stepped back and smirked. This upset her more and she kicked a few more times, each time, Ichigo dodging without a problem. She was getting more annoyed and finally tried to punch him. Her hand went right through him and she stumbled to regain balance. She put her arm down and looked down the driveway and back to Ichigo.

"You know, if Orihime comes outside right now, she would see that."

"I know. I will make a shadow if I need to."

Tatsuki exhaled deeply and pulled up her scarf. "So it is true, you are dead, aren't you?"

"Yes."

"Now do you mind telling me what your plan is? She's going to find out eventually and as her friend, it's my job to protect her. Be it from some pervert or a spirit. I will not let her get hurt."

"Neither will I."

"How am I supposed to know that? What's your plan Kurosaki?"

"My plan is to get to know her better and establish a good friendship with her."

"That's it? I doubt that's all you want."

Ichigo looked in the window and could see Orihime look towards the window. He stepped into a shadow and waved at her while she waved back. She then turned around and went away from teh window

"I'll be honest with you Tatsuki since I don't really have the energy to be hiding anymore. I was killed in a car accident 5 years ago. About a week before that night, I had a very vivid dream about running in a yard or somewhere. The sun was bright and it looked like there were kids behind me. I felt so happy and at peace. Slowly, I could see images of the accident that hadn't happened yet. It would jump back to the yard and the kids would be slowly fading, back to the accident, back to the yard, until the children were gone and I was left in the darkness. I had always wanted a family Arisawa. it was the only thing I felt I could do properly. Now I obviously can't do such a thing." Ichigo looked up at the moon and then back down to Tatsuki. He continued. "A short time after I died, I had a man stop me on the road and say something to me that seems very relevant now. He said, 'when the time comes that you are able to connect with someone so much that you feel your humanity returning, come see me and we will complete the process.' He gave me his card. He's back in Karakura and his name's Urahara. It's very hard for me to move beyond a certain area, but I think if I can get a good friendship going with Inoue, I may be able to get enough strength to go. I seem to get more energy from having the living acknowledge me."

Tatsuki was interested now. "What do you think he meant?"

"I found out that I am the only spirit in the area that can become solid and warm to the living. When I asked about it to other spirits in the area, one joked that maybe they could turn me human again. Everyone laughed, but hearing it made me wonder if what he said really meant that he had some way of turning me back."

Tatsuki looked down. "I'm sorry Kurosaki, I don't know what he meant by that, but I don't think it was that he could bring you back to life. That's impossible. Maybe he meant that you would have no more regrets and could finally pass on."

Ichigo looked at her in almost desperation. "When we are done here, I'm going to try to make it to Karakura tonight. If I can do that and get to his place, I can ask him myself."

Tatsuki sighed deeply and looked up at him with a smile that he hadn't seen. "Do whatever you want. It's your lif..I mean..your dea...no well whatever. You do what you don't bring Orihime into something she can't understand or handle."They nodded and moved towards the door.

Inside, Orihime was sitting on the floor, crying uncontrollably into her hands. Right after she had waved to them, she had opened the window on her back door. The first thing she heard was, 'I was killed in a car accident 5 years ago.' She had heard everything else. Knowing that someone was in such a state, knowing how much he had gone through, made her shiver in sorrow and drop to the floor. As she heard them walking towards the door, she scrambled up and opened the door, to the shock of both Ichigo and Tatsuki. Her makeup was running down her face and it took her a moment to straighten up before she finally spoke.

"I..I will help you Kurosaki-kun. I will help you..."

She began tearing up again. Tatsuki ran over to her and gave her a big hug. Orihime immediately began bawling into her arms and could barely control herself. Tatsuki was not at all surprised that she would get so emotional. Orihime cared for people deeply, and she knew that Orihime would do whatever she could to help. Ichigo stood back and watched them. He took off the shadow and waited for them to stop hugging before he spoke.

"Inoue, I plan on going to Karakura tonight to see what this Urahara really meant. I'm sorry I didn't tell you right away. I didn't know how to tell you."

Orihime wiped her eyes and walked over to him. "It's ok Kurosaki-kun. you must be going through so much." With the tears still fresh on her face, she leaned in and gave Ichigo a hug. She hugged him gently and could feel the warmth on him. She wondered how he could smell, but didn't think much of it. Slowly, he wrapped his arms around her and held her close. For several moments they were held together. She could feel the energy around her. It selt like static electricity and she began to focus and imagine herself sending waves of energy into him. This made her a little lightheaded, so she pulled away and looked at him.

"If you would feel better, you can become only partially visible to us. If it saves energy, you don't have to pretend with us anymore."

Ichigo nodded and stepped back, becoming only slightly visible to Tatsuki and more visible to Orihime, though still partially transparent. Ichigo looked at them.

"Thank you. I do feel much better. I should be going to Karakura tonight. I need to find out."

Tatsuki could hear the words come out of Orihime's mouth before she said them. "Then I'm going with you."


	5. Chapter 5

Tatsuki put her hand to her temple and rubbed it. "Orihime, it's almost 20:00, you realize that if you take the train or drive there now, it would take you at least 6 hours to get there? I don't think this Urahara would be ok with someone dropping by in the middle of the night."

Orihime looked to be in deep contemplation. Her hand on her chin. "Oh! What about flying! You could do that, right Kurosaki-kun?"

Ichigo looked at her in confusion. "I don't know."

Orihime ran inside and sat down at her computer. Ichigo and Tatsuki slowly followed behind. After a few minutes, Orihime ran to her purse and took out her credit card. Tatsuki sighed deeply as she watched her friend. She was thinking that it would have been much easier living closer to town. Orihime's brother had bought the property for the beautiful yard and open space that Tokyo did not provide. After his death, Orihime couldn't leave the place. Finally, Orihime dashed over to the printer and grabbed the boarding pass that was printing off. She pulled it out and smiled joyfully. "I got a ticket to Narita Airport!"

Tatski smiled. "That's great Orihime. I'm surprised they still had a flight at Chitose. When does it leave?"

Orihime looked at the clock on the wall. "At 8:20! That's in 35 minutes! This was their last flight." Her eyes lowered. "Oh, I guess we probably won't make it there in time with the snow."

Tatsuki smiled wide. "You just leave the driving to me. I can get you there!"

Orihime's eyes glittered and she hugged and thanked Tatsuki. Meanwhile, Ichigo could feel the determination from Orihime, because he too felt like he could really get some answers tonight, even if they were far away. Orihime ran to get some items from the bathroom and ran out again in the blink of an eye. She grabbed Tatsuki's arm and they ran outside. Ichigo followed, turning off the lights on his way out. He smiled at Orihime."She really is something." He thought. Tatsuki cleared enough space for Orihime in the front seat and asked if Ichigo was also in the car. Orihime asked a question that was on her mind for a while.

"Kurosaki-kun, couldn't you just, I don't know, teleport or something to Urahara's?"

Tatsuki looked at Orihime and started the car. "I was wondering that too."

Ichigo nodded, which only Orihime could see. "I thought that too, but the farther I am away from this area, the harder it is for me. I heard that other spirits who are stuck try to teleport to a loved one's house and get sent right back. I didn't want to take that risk. When I was alive, I would've done it in the blink of an eye, but I know now that I need to do whatever is best, even if I have to wait."

The car was now down the road and Tatsuki took every turn with precision, even when the car slipped. Orihime felt safe with Tatsuki driving. She knew if she had driven tonight, they'd probably be in a snowbank in no time. The car ride was unremarkable. They barely spoke. As they left the area Ichigo could be in freely, he gave a grunt and crouched over. Orihime called out to Ichigo, but could not touch him. She focused and imagined giving him more energy, which seemed to work as he thanked her and said he was feeling better. They arrived at Chitose airport at 8:14. Tatsuki drove them right up to the front door and gave Orihime a quick hug and wished them good luck. She told Orihime to call when she was back and Orihime waved as she was running towards the door. Ichigo was now completely invisible, so Orihime had to ask if he was still there. She ran over to the terminal and saw that it was 8:17. They were just about to close the door when Orihime yelled and waved her boarding pass. They scanned it quickly and she was on board. She found her seat and plopped down with a heavy sigh of relief. She looked around. There were only 7 other people on the flight, and no one was within 3 rows of her. She liked that, since she would be talking to Ichigo and didn't want to look weird. She whispered to make sure Ichigo was still there. When she heard no reply, she panicked and looked around. She called to him again, and he finally spoke.

"Yeah...I'm here."

"Oh Kurosaki-kun I'm so sorry. I hope that once we are in the air, you will feel better."

"Me too." Ichigo replied with much effort.

Moments later, the flight took off and Orihime held the arms of the seat. She had flown before, but still got nervous. The flight took off normally and the pilot announced they would be in Narita by 10:00. She sat back and relaxed. As she was leaning back, she could feel Ichigo in the seat to her left. She opened one eye and asked if he was ok.

"I am Inoue. I actually feel really good right now. It must be from being up so high."

"I'm glad. You're probably feeding off the energy in the atmosphere. That is so cool!" The last part went above a whisper and she put her hand over her mouth right away. She could hear Ichigo chuckle and she leaned back, smiling at everything that has happened thus far with this stranger that she now would like to call a friend.

She felt like she fell asleep, because the next thing she knew, the pilot announced they were going to be landing. She was relieved that she had fallen asleep. "Did you have a nice nap, Inoue?"

"Yes, thank you. Looks like we are here. Are you still ok?

"Yeah, I feel great."

Orihime smiled and could feel Ichigo's hand on hers. She smiled wider and let him know that they should still be able to get a train to Karakura at this time. The flight landed without incident and Orihime raced out of the airport and ran towards the train station. She only had to wait a few minutes for a train and rode it to Karakura. Several times throughout the trip, she kept asking if Ichigo was ok. He finally had to tell her that he would let her know if he wasn't feeling ok. She giggled and nodded. At about 10:35, they reached Urahara's house. At night it was harder to navigate, but Ichigo remembered the streets from when he lived there and was able to guide her to the place. As they approached, Ichigo ducked into an alley and formed. Their conversations were few and far between as they both were more focused on getting to Urahara's. They turned the corner and could see that there was someone outside the place, which looked to be a store. As they approached the man, he spoke.

"I've been waiting for you." They both looked at each other, then at Urahara and nodded to him. Urahara held up his fan and laughed. "Just kidding, just kidding! I didn't feel you until you were almost here. I was just standing outside to enjoy the crisp weather." They both looked at each other again and began laughing. This was going to be a long night. Orihime spoke first.

"Good evening, my name's Inoue Orihime. I assume you are Urahara Kisuke?"

His fan stayed in front of his face."I am." He looked at Ichigo. "I didn't get your name before."

"Kurosaki Ichigo."

"Nice to meet you both. Now, it looks like you've traveled a long way, let's go inside."

They both were led into a tatami lined room and Orihime was served tea. Ichigo was given a cup that looked like it was glowing. Orihime saw Ichigo's eyes light up and he chugged it down. He held the cup and within a moment, the cup began to crack. Orihime glanced at Ichigo, who almost looked like he could take down a few sumo wrestlers with how he looked.

"Um..Kurosaki-kun, are you..."

The cup broke into his hand and he shot up. "Oh yeah this feels amazing! What is it?"

Urahara sat back down on the mats. "Just a little concoction I made. It's rather hard to make, so I won't be able to give you anymore tonight. You should be able to make it back to Hokkaido with no problem."

Orihime fidgeted. "So, you know why we are here Urahara-san?"

"Why yes I do! You both are here because you would like to know more about what I said to Kurosaki-san. Well I can tell you right now that I can do part of the procedure tonight, but the rest is not ready yet."

Ichigo sat back down. "What do you mean?"

Urahara took a sip from his teacup and placed it slowly back down. His voice lowered."I specialized in a certain area at my former job that was more in the...scientific research area. You may have noticed Kurosaki-san and maybe even Inoue-san that every once in a while you see people dressed in black kimonos." They both nodded. "Well they are called shinigami and they normally take spirits to a place called Soul Society. Well, sometimes these shinigami want to or need to be visible in the human world, so I made something called a gigai. With this gigai, it allows the shinigami to put themselves in to a form that regular people can see. My theory is that if your soul is strong enough, Kurosaki-san, that we would be able to connect the gigai to your soul and allow you to stay in that form. We would need to experiment a bit, since I've never done it before, but the theory does seem like it could work."

Ichigo shifted and thought about what Urahara said. "So, would I age or would the gigai stay the same?"

Urahara lifted his cup again. "I can do either. I have made gigai that age, though that may take longer to perfect. My guess is that you would like to be given a gigai that can do anything a human can?"

Ichigo nodded. Orihime was still trying to wrap her brain around how someone can just make a functioning body. Orihime's cheeks went red as she thought about something she wouldn't know how to ask. Urahara noticed her obvious flush and smiled. "What is it Inoue-san?"

"I..I was just thinking if that means that these gigai could have children."

Orihime looked down in obvious embarrassment. Ichigo and Urahara both smirked and thought how cute it was that a grown woman was still so innocent. "I could do that as well Inoue-san, if that's what you'd want."

Orihime's hands shot up in a waving frenzy. "No, no, that decision is Kurosaki-kun's, not mine."

Urahara glanced over at Ichigo, who was still in some sort or trance from the drink. "Well Kurosaki-san, what do you think? Do you want to have children?"

Ichigo's eyes regained their sparkle and Ichigo shot a very sincere look to Urahara. "I would appreciate anything that you would be willing to do. If I am able to be a normal human again, I would be eternally grateful."

Orihime's hand slowly raised and both men looked at her. "So, you can make a gigai that can eat, sleep, breath, have children, age to be an old man, and die?"

Urahara's fan found its way to his face. "Why yes, I should be able to do all that. There will need to be a lot of training and you both may be gone for a few days, is that going to be ok?"

Ichigo chuckled. "Time means nothing to me right now, I have all the time in the world."

Orihime giggled and nodded. "Me too. Oh! I forgot to turn off the lights and lock the door!"

"I did that for you."

"Really?! Thank you very much!" Orihime's smile was bright and it made Ichigo lean forward and smile at her.

"No problem. Are you sure you will be ok being away for a few days?"

Orihime shoved Ichigo's arm. "Don't worry about me, worry about your training."

Ichigo smiled and looked back at Urahara, who was putting his phone away. "I just messaged some clients who are willing to stop over now and show you how to use a gigai by demonstrating on their own."

Orihime cheered and Ichigo gave an enthusiastic, "alright!" They waited for a few minutes and chatted about the trip and what some of the first things Ichigo would do as a human. The first he said was that he would go visit his family and eat the largest burger he could find. Urahara skipped over the family part for now and advised Ichigo that the gigai can still get sick and that he should always monitor what he eats and get plenty of exercise. Ichigo grunted in response, knowing that Urahara was right, but he still wanted to have some fun.

A knock came and Urahara announced they were here. He greeted them and they walked into the room. Urahara stepped to the side once in the room and motioned his arms towards the two. "Kurosaki-san, Inoue-san, I'd like you to meet Abarai Renji and Kuchiki Rukia. They are shimigami that will be showing you how to use a gigai."

Rukia bowed and Renji just stood there. Orihime stood up and bowed to them. "Nice to meet you both. I hope you can teach Kurosaki-san all he will need to know to live his life in the gigai."

Rukia looked over to Renji, who was looking at Ichigo with a scowl. She then looked at Ichigo, who had a similar situation going on. Ichigo stood up and pointed at Renji. "Like hell I'm going to be taking lessons from this guy!"

"Wha'd ya say?!"

"Ya heard me!"

"Enough!" Rukia's voice echoed through the room and both men stopped their bickering. Rukia sighed. "Please excuse us, it's been a long day. Orihime apologized for causing so much trouble. Urahara finally chimed in.

"I brought your gigais. I'll move the table." Ichigo turned around and was met with the gigais of Rukia and Renji. Rukia's had Chappy inside and she had decided to dress in a light blue dress with a big bunny face on the front. Ichigo gave one glance and held in a laugh. Chappy's eye twitched and she looked at Ichigo. He began laughing out loud now and Chappy had had enough. She took her bunny backpack and swung it at Ichigo, hitting him square in the face. They bagan bickering and Rukia sighed deeply. This was going to be a long night.

**Note: I will probably be throwing in some RenRuki in future chapters since I love them so much. I actually researched when the last flight out of Chitose airport in Sapporo was, how long it took, if it was reasonably priced, and various other things. Thanks for reading. **


	6. Chapter 6

Chappy had her arms tightly wrapped around Ichigo's chest. Not hugging him, but trying to fight in her own way. Ichigo kept trying to pry her off, much to the amusement of Renji. Ichigo had had enough. He finally decided to "power down" and cause Chappy to lose her grip, in a very comical fashion. She lost her grip and stumbled to the mats, landing with a thud. She picked herself up, complaining about how that was a cheap shot. She found Ichigo propped against the wall, smiling in victory. "Are you done now?" Rukia's voice cut the air and everyone gave her their full attention. Renji smiled and crouched down next to Rukia.

"Come on Rukia. They were just messing around. Why don't you try to put your arms around me?"

Rukia's cheeks flushed. "Renji! We are here to demonstrate how to use a gigai." Her arms crossed. "Besides, I can't wrap my arms around you. You're too big. "

Renji's smile was a mile wide. "That's not what you said last night!" Rukia's mouth dropped and she began to shake. Ichigo burst out laughing and Orihime put her hand over her mouth to hide her own giggle. Renji looked over at Rukia, who was giving him the death stare. "Kidding, kidding. It was a joke Rukia." He laughed nervously as he saw Rukia's arms uncross and she let out a big sigh. Renji put his hand on her shoulder and stood up. Rukia helped him up and they exchanged genuine smiles that only they knew the true meaning of. Meanwhile, Chappy stood there impatiently and asked if they were ready yet. Everyone stood aside as Renji, Rukia, and their gigais came forward. They both positioned themselves behind the gigais and walked into them, causing the soul candy to pop out. Orihime and Ichigo looked confused as they both began to walk around and show that they had control over the gigai.

Orihime finally spoke. "Um...it just looks like you walked into them and a ball came out of your mouth. That's all I saw."

Urahara leaned against the wall and replied. "More or less, that is all that it is. The resonance from the gigai connects with the soul and the artificial soul or Mod Soul is extracted. That is what that ball is."

Orihime still looked confused and Ichigo looked annoyed. "That really doesn't help me get into a gigai permanently. It seems temporary."

"On the contrary Kurosaki-san, a soul can stay in a gigai for as long as it needs. The Mod Soul is there to simply control the gigai while the shinigami, or in your case, spirit, does what they need to outside the gigai."

Rukia brought over the Mod Souls and gave them each one to examine. Both took them and looked at it with childlike curiosity. Orihime suddenly had the hugest craving for a gumball. Rukia stood patiently and smiled slightly at their ignorance. "Soon enough, they will be pros at this." She thought.

Ichigo held his up as Orihime gave hers back to Rukia. "So, would I get one of these as well?"

Urahara had since sat down and continued drinking his tea, observing the situation as he slowly sipped. He put his cup down and spoke. "Yes. I have one that you can use. Tonight I plan on getting some measurements from you and tomorrow morning, I will start making your gigai. I have some shells in storage and it shouldn't take long to make a prototype. Ichigo nodded and gave the Mod Soul back to Rukia. Urahara smiled at the thought of being able to experiment again. Also to be able to have such a subject would be very interesting. "Alright everyone! I need to take ichigo into the other room to get some measurements. Rukia, Renji, you both can stay if you'd like, but I'm guessing Inoue-san will want to sleep soon." Orihime shot her arm up claiming to be still very much awake, only to begin yawning while her arm was still in the air. Everyone laughed and Orihime quickly put her arm down and apologized. Rukia and Renji said goodbye to everyone and headed out. They promised to come back tomorrow to see the new gigai. Orihime was shown to a room that had a futon laid out for her. Urahara and Ichigo stood at the door. As she turned, she looked right at Ichigo and with a sleepy smile, she bid them both goodnight. She plopped onto the futon and looked out the window to the moon, which was casting its light onto the floor. Orihime moved her futon slowly towards the light until she was under its magical light. She looked up at the moon for quite a while, contemplating what had happened the last week and how she never imagined her life would end up like this.

Hours passed, and Urahara was finally starting to get tired. Ichigo agreed to come back in the morning to get more measurements and he disappeared. Urahara let out a big sigh in the moonlit room. He adjusted his hat and stepped out the front door. He stood outside the door and gazed up at the moon. Moments later, he heard footsteps approaching. He looked down to see the man now standing in front of him. The man spoke softly. "I got your message. So he did come."

"Yes he did. Just like you thought he would."

"Well, if it was me in that situation, I'd do the same."

"Like father, like son, huh?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

**Note: This was a harder chapter because I couldn't remember much about gigais. i researched and still didn't find much, so I just went with what sounded like it would work. Sorry for the short chapter. Next chapter, ichigo finally gets to try to enter his gigai and meet his Mod Soul. i bet no one can guess who it is. :)**


	7. Chapter 7

Her eyes fluttered open as she woke slowly from her dreamless sleep. The moon had moved to the other side of the window. The white light now illuminating the bottom half of the blanket. She tried to focus, mumbling about the late hour. Her eyes began to adjust and she could make out someone sitting at the window, looking out. She lifted her head and propped herself up with her right arm. She blinked several times trying to focus with the bright light coming in. He turned his head away from the window. With a voice just above a whisper, he spoke.

"Sorry, did I wake you?"

"I'm not sure. What are you doing here at this hour?" She immediately regretted asking him such a thing and making it sound like she didn't want him around. "S..sorry."

"I was waiting for you to wake up so I could tell you we'll need to go today by the end of the day. Urahara said the concoction he made for me will be wearing off and it'll be harder for me to stay here."

Orihime's eyes were still half open, but she shifted herself up to a sitting position.

"What about training?"

"I'll be taking back a shell gigai and Mod Soul to practice on. Urahara will be making the real gigai in the meantime."

Orihime smiled. "That's good. I'm glad you can practice where you feel better."

Ichigo looked back out the window. "I also wanted to, you know, get to know you better. You've done so much for me and I wanted us to at least know more about each other so I don't feel like I'm forcing you into this."

Orihime looked down at her hands, which were partly lit up by the moon. "You're not forcing me into anything. I chose this path, and I'm glad I took it. My life was pretty average before all this."

Ichigo looked back at her. "So, I'm not sure where to start." Orihime pondered for a moment, then finally gave a loud "Oh" and continued.

"What's your favorite color? Food? Animal? Plant? Brand of bread? Favorite type of bean paste?" She began to chuckle. "I guess I'm getting hungry!" They both laughed.

Their conversation went on for a few hours as they discussed their favorite items, their hobbies, likes, dislikes, anything they can think of. The sun began to fill the darkness the setting moon left behind. Orihime was surprised they had talked this long. She had stayed on the futon the whole time and Ichigo had never left his spot by the window. She had asked him a question that she wasn't sure if she was supposed to. She had asked what happens to most people when they die and what it feels like. Ichigo said he wasn't really sure what happens to other people when they die. When he did, he didn't feel anything since the crash happened so fast. When he could see his body, that was when he knew it was over. He said he doesn't feel anything except a deep need to be human again. That was all he felt from the beginning. He said most of the other spirits feel some kind of need or pull to do something or be able to communicate with someone. Beyond that, they don't feel anything, except when they go back to a dark place to recharge. He said it was similar to being in an empty room with the door shut and no lights on. You can hear what's going on "outside" and feel like around you can go on forever, yet you feel confined. This is where he waits for his energy to return. When he hears and feels someone nearby, most times they can't even sense he's there, much less speak to him. He said there are a few spirits near Orihime's house that still think it's the time period that they died in. These seem to be the spirits that have unfinished business, which more than likely will never be fulfilled. No matter what the other spirits say to them, they still think it's that other time. Orihime was fascinated that Ichigo didn't know much about the afterlife, yet had a lot of experience in knowing about the different spirits. She finally excused herself for yawning and Ichigo said he would head back so she could sleep a little longer. She was happy to be able to sleep again, but still wanted to know more. As she was drifting off to sleep, she wondered what would happen next.

There came a knock at the door some time later and Urahara announced breakfast was ready. Orihime lifted her sleep deprived body up and groaned a reply. She shuffled towards the smell of food and plopped herself down and took a drink of the much needed coffee. She looked up and saw Ichigo leaned up against the wall. They smiled at each other and Orihime wanted to ask Ichigo to sit by her, but she didn't know if she should. As she was pondering, the door slid open and Urahara came in with a very obvious sense of accomplishment.

"Oh ho, you both are here! That's great! I have someone I'd like you to meet."

Orihime finished shoveling the food in her mouth and turned to face the door. Urahara stepped aside and a very familiar face stood behind him. Orihime almost choked on her food when she saw the gigai. It looked just like Ichigo, and was moving around like nothing! Urahara smiled at her reaction, then looked at Ichigo, who seemed to also be in a state of shock. Urahara waved his arm over towards the gigai. "Ladies and gentlemen, this is the shell gigai that you can take back with you to train. There are no organs or anything else inside, so he's pretty light." Urahara smacked the gigai in the back of the head, "See, nothing in there!"

Finally the gigai spoke. "Hey, I got plenty in there!" Urahara chuckled and walked away. The gigai looked away in annoyance and looked towards Ichigo. "The name's Kon! Nice ta meecha Ichigo." Kon turned towards Orihime, who still had crumbs on her face, and her mouth slightly open. Kon suddenly drifted his look down towards her chest and gave a hearty yell before racing towards Orihime. Ichigo's arms were crossed the whole time, but Kon's movements sent Ichigo into protective mode and he appeared in between Kon and Orihime in a fraction of a second. Orihime looked around Ichigo to see Kon waving behind. Orihime giggled.

"Kurosaki-kun, you don't have to do that, I'm sure Kon-san is very nice. He is in your body after all." She leaned more and waved back to Kon. "Nice to meet you Kon-san, I'm Inoue Orihime. We will be taking you back to my house today so that Kurosaki-san can train with you." Kon looked to Ichigo, who was still in between them, giving one of his signature scowls. Kon chuckled and put his hand on Ichigo's shoulder, or tried, as the hand went right through. Kon took his hand back and almost looked embarrassed.

"Don't worry about me Ichigo, I won't go after anyone. I don't have any fillings." Orihime giggled and Ichigo sighed, stepping out of the way and returning to his lean up against the wall.

"Come and sit with me Kon." Kon smiled and sat down, of course close to Orihime. Orihime didn't mind. In fact, her cheeks blushed a bit, but she snapped back and continued eating. "So Kon, you're a Mod Soul, right?" Kon nodded. "So when Ichigo is in the body, you're just one of those balls?" Kon nodded again. Orihime pondered for a moment, then wondered aloud. "I wonder if a Mod Soul can go into other objects and bring them to life. I'd love to have a talking toaster!"

Kon flinched. "Please don't put me in the toaster."

Orihime laughed. "Oh don't worry Kon-san, I'll just try to put you in a stuffed animal. That way you can still walk and talk." Kon sighed and agreed.

Some time had passed and everyone was sitting around chatting. Urahara was telling everyone the best tricks for making a good gigai, which went over everyone's head. Suddenly, Ichigo grunted and hunched over. Orihime shot up and ran towards him. She looked with worry towards Urahara. Urahara stood up. "It appears it is time for you to go, but before you go, did you buy two plane tickets or one?"

"One."

"That is a concern then. Ichigo can make it through no problem, but Kon is still solid and will still need a ticket."

Orihime looked down. "Oh, well I don't know if I have the money for it. Can he just be, I don't know folded up or something so that I can take him on the plane?"

"That's a great idea Inoue-san! I do happen to have an old suitcase that might work."

Kon looked stunned towards Urahara. "Oh no! You're not putting me in some ratty old suitcase! I'm going to be..." Just then, Urahara hit Kon in the back of the head and the ball popped out, sending the gigai tumbling down. Urahara grabbed it and announced he'd be right back. Orihime was still next to Ichigo and watched as he struggled to stay visible. With a soft voice, she placed her hand on his cheek.

"You don't have to stay visible for us. Just rest as long as you can." Ichigo placed his hand over hers and nodded, disappearing from her hand. Urahara returned moments later with the suitcase, saying the gigai was inside and the ball was in the mouth. He said if it were to accidentally slip down the throat and Kon could move again, he would be rather surprised that he made it inside the suitcase. Urahara had an almost evil grin on his face, which Orihime seemed oblivious to. They walked outside and Orihime turned back to Urahara.

"Thank you Urahara-san for everything. I will keep you updated on the progress and let you know when Ichigo is ready."

"Thank you Inoue-san. Now you better catch that flight. Good luck."

Orihime ran down the road, turning to wave back at Urahara. She continued running until she made it to the station. She pushed the suitcase through, nearly getting it stuck in the doors. She once again made sure Ichigo was still around. She threw the suitcase onto the conveyor belt once at the airport and was surprised at how light it was. She made it the terminal just in time. She got to her seat and took deep breaths to calm herself down. She was finally going back. It seemed like she had been gone for weeks. She called Tatsuki quick and let her know they were leaving. Tatsuki was going to meet her at the airport. Orihime was happy Tatsuki was able to get her on such short notice. She finally was able to sit back and relax.

The flight landed at Chitose Airport in Sapporo, and Orihime rushed out of the plane and nearly forgot the bag. Ichigo had to remind her as she was almost out the door. She found Tatsuki near the entrance. "I didn't know you had enough money to go on a shopping trip Orihime." Tatsuki said as they greeted each other.

Orihime gave a quick chuckle. "Oh no Tatsuki-chan, I didn't go shopping. There's a body in here!" Tatsuki's eyes widened and she looked around to see that a few other people noticed.

"What are you talking about Orihime?!"

Orihime looked confused. "I have the gigai in here. It's not alive or anything. Well it was until Urahara-san knocked it in the back of the head and then he stuffed him into the suitcase."

Tatsuki was getting nervous how and patted Orihime on the shoulder, announcing loudly. "Oh Orihime and your stories. They are so funny." Tatsuki gave some fake laughs and pulled Orihime towards the door, causing the suitcase to jerk quickly. Just then, they could hear noises from the suitcase.

"What the...hey! Get me out of here!" Kon began clawing at the suitcase.

Tatsuki shrieked and pulled Orihime's hand. "Ok, time to go...now!" They ran towards the car in record time, all while Kon was yelling to get out. Finally when they reached the car, Tatsuki kicked the suitcase. "Will you quiet down already! We'll take you out when we are in a safe spot. Got it?" Kon said ow, but remained quiet for the rest of the trip home. When the car passed back into Ichigo's area, everyone could hear a huge sigh. Ichigo then appeared and looked to almost be panting.

Orihime looked behind her. "Are you ok now Kurosaki-kun?" Still trying to absorb as much energy as he could, he was only able to nod. Orihme smiled and turned back around. They arrived at Orihime's house in good time and Orihime was so excited to be home that she nearly fell out of the car.

"Hang in there Orihime. We need to unpack, Kon was it?"

Ichigo answered for her. "Yeah, his name's Kon." They placed the suitcase in the driveway and unzipped it. Kon burst out and shook his arms and legs to get back to normal.

"That was not fun." He looked around. "Oh hey, nice place."

Orihime turned towards the house for a moment, then back. "Thanks! Welcome home everyone!"


	8. Chapter 8

A week had passed and Orihime was ready to throw in the towel. Kon had proved to be harder to handle than she had planned. She had thought Mod Souls just took on their bodies' personality, not have a personality of their own. On the first night, Ichigo had been recuperating and Kon waltzed over to the radio and played a nice station that played a lot of jazz music. As soon as an upbeat swing song came on, he asked Orihime if she wanted to dance. She had been quietly reading a book, and looked up to see Kon's desperate face. She smiled and declined, but he was persistent. Finally, she agreed and he pulled her right off the couch with such force, she slammed right into him. Kon smiled and took her other hand. They danced quickly to the swing music and Orihime got plenty of twirls in before the song was over. Just as the next song was about to start, Orihime felt Kon's hand be jerked away from hers. She looked up in time to see Ichigo's fist finish the punch to Kon's face, sending him flying into the couch and over it. Butt now in the air. Ichigo sighed and looked over at Orihime.

"Are you alright?" Her shocked look was still plastered on her face.

"Y..yes I'm fine." She frowned. "You didn't have to do that. We were just dancing."

Ichigo scowled. "I don't trust that pervert in my soon-to-be body. He needs to treat you with more respect and less affection." The silence sliced the air and Orihime finally coughed, causing Kon to roll off the couch. Kon stood and faced Ichigo. The duplicate scowls were almost amusing to Orihime. Kon grabbed Orihime's hand and Ichigo defensively put his over their hands, trying to pry them apart. Kon smirked and pulled his hand out and put Orihime's and Ichigo's hands together.

"Why don't you two give it a try?"

Orihime's heart fluttered. They both looked at each other with embarrassment. A new song came on the radio that was smooth jazz. Ichigo smiled and took her other hand. The flush came quickly to her cheeks as she was swept from her cloud and onto the dance floor. They danced slowly in her living room. She felt like she was still riding on a cloud. Not knowing where it was taking her, but knowing that somehow, it would still be alright. She didn't know why she was feeling this way still. She didn't know if she was pitying Ichigo, or if she was starting to actually feel something for him. One thing was for sure. She really liked dancing with him. Meanwhile in Ichigo's head, he was a wreck. The last dance he had ever had was with his mother years ago. Memories came crashing back to him and he didn't know if he should be happy or sad at the moment. Orihime seemed to notice and gave him a worried look. He looked back and snapped out of his daze once he looked into her eyes to see the concern that she was genuinely feeling for him. He knew that he should at least give her a nice dance, so that she could end the day a little less stressed. He gave her a wide smile and picked up the pace as the next song started. She smiled back, glad to see him appearing to be in a better mood. They continued for a few more songs until the final one came to an end and he gave her once last twirl. She twirled right into his arms as the song ended and ended up wrapped in his arms, mere inches from his face. She panted and licked her lips subconsciously. He let go slowly and she looked disappointed to be out of his arms. She breathed deep and exhaled a thank you before running into the bathroom. He watched her enter the bathroom and then looked back at Kon, who had placed himself on the couch. "I think she's starting to really like ya, man."

Still looking at the bathroom door, he replied. "I know. I can tell. I really want her and I to share more memories. I think we should practice outside for a while so she can have some alone time for now."

Kon nodded. "You're right. I'll let her know." Kon knocked on the door, hearing sniffs as he knocked. After she let out a soft response, he mentioned they were going outside and she agreed it may be good. Kon put his hands in his pockets and slowly walked out the side door to the driveway. Ichigo was already there. He looked more determined than ever to see how far he could get. Kon looked at him. "Use the energy you are feeling now. All the emotions of the dance, everything that you've felt the last few weeks and pool it into one ball of energy. Use this energy to push me out."

Ichigo nodded and stood behind Kon. His transparent self stepped into the body and he tried to focus. He imagined everything he could and tried to draw enough strength to push Kon out, but after 10 minutes, there was still nothing. Ichigo cursed and stepped out. Kon looked at him and then had an idea. "What if I found a new body to go into? Maybe for now just a stuffed animal or something that I could hold on and you could maybe focus also on getting me into the other body. That may help." Ichigo thought about it for a moment and shrugged in agreement. "I'll go in and get the stuffed animal Ichigo, I'll be baaacckk!" Kon half skipped half jogged to the door and ran inside. Once inside, he found Orihime sitting on the couch reading. "Hey Orihime, do you have a stuffed animal I could use as a holder for me once Ichigo gets in the gigai?"

She put the book down quickly. "Oh, that's right! Yeah I do have a few in storage. I'll be back." She came back a few minutes later with four animals. There was a lion, a bird, a turtle, and a rabbit that appeared to also be a purse. Kon decided that with the lack of options, he'd go with the lion. He thanked her and ran back outside. Ichigo appeared again and smirked at the lion.

"Hey! She had a limited supply. Let's try this again." Kon took the lion and put it in his left hand. Ichigo walked into position again and this time, focused on seeing Orihime's smile, her beautiful hair, and sparkling eyes. He then focused on putting the mod soul into the lion. He could feel a warmth, which for a spirit didn't exist. He panicked and lost the connection, but quickly shook it off and tried again. He faintly could see the mod soul and reached out for it. His hand went right through it. He frantically bat at it hoping that one time it would touch, but it wasn't. He then could hear Orihime laugh from inside the house. It startled him, but then he smiled and remembered all the things he was remembering earlier. He remembered her eyes as he held her during the dance. He reached again for the mod soul and just as he was about to reach it, he heard her call out his name from his memories. _Kurosaki-kun, you can do it!_ He yelled and with one fluid motion, pushed out the mod soul and stuffed it into the lion. Kon coughed inside the lion and Ichigo, now in the gigai, fell to his knees. Kon dropped to the driveway, but recovered and jumped excitedly.

"You did it Ichigo! You did it! How do you feel?"

Ichigo could barely get his mouth moving. It was really hard to control anything. Finally he looked up towards Kon. "I feel cold." He looked back down and started shaking.

"Well get up! Let's go inside and show Orihime!"

Ichigo kept shaking and slowly fell to his side onto the driveway. Kon yelled for him, but he was not responding, so Kon ran towards the door, yelling for Orihime. Once he reached the door, he realized he couldn't open it. "Stupid lion hands! I have to find something to throw at the doorbell! Oh, this stick might do!" He grabbed the stick and got the bell after a few attempts. The ring startled Orihime and she ran over towards the door. She opened it and looked around. "Down here!" She looked down and saw her stuffed lion waving at her. "Orihime! Ichigo got in the gigai, but he's cold and fell over." Orihime shot her look towards the driveway, where Ichigo was laying motionless. She shrieked and ran over to him.

"Kurosaki-kun, are you ok!? Kurosaki-kun!" She lifted him up as best she could and moved him slowly to the house. It took some effort to get him inside, but she finally got him on the couch and put a blanket over him. A few minutes passed and Orihime had made some tea and left it on the table for when Ichigo would wake up. She sat next to him and ran he fingers through his hair. She leaned in towards him and put her head on his shoulder. Her eyes fluttered and she could feel sleep taking hold. She looked over and Kon had positioned himself on the other side of the couch.

"You should get some sleep Orihime. He may be asleep for a while to recover. You being there will probably help him. I'll let him know what happened when he wakes up." She gave a soft ok and was off to dreamland.


	9. Chapter 9

Her breaths were heavy as the dreams cycled in and out of her mind. She woke quickly as the final one left her feeling uneasy. She woke only to instantly forget why she was breathing so hard. Her neck hurt and she immediately fell over to the other side of the couch as she still could not chase those last bits of the desire to sleep from her. She drifted off again and was woken to the squeaking sound of Kon's paws hitting her face. She opened her eyes slowly, taking in the angry looking stuffed lion in front of her.

"Hey Orihime, wake up! Ichigo's awake."

She shot up and looked over to Ichigo. He was covered in a blanket, but his eyes were looking at her. A faint smile was painted on his lips. She smiled back and scooted over to him, placing a hand on his head and softly running her hand through his hair. "Good morning. How are you feeling?"

Kon answered for him. "He left the gigai twice since you were asleep. We were able to get him back in just a few hours ago. He was able to stay in the same spot so you weren't woken up."

Orihime felt a warmth in her stomach. _He was concerned with making sure I didn't wake up, even though he was struggling so hard to stay in the body? He really is amazing. _"What can I do to help Kurosaki-kun?"

Ichigo looked at her, eyes half open. "Y..you can start by calling me Ichigo." His voice was hoarse and barely above a whisper. She stopped touching him and put her hands in her lap. Her cheeks flushed and she looked down.

"I..Ichigo then, uh, what else can I do to help?"

Kon smirked and stomped his foot on the couch. "You can give him a hug Orihime. He probably needs one pretty bad right now." Kon saw her blush more, and Ichigo's eyes widened slightly, but he still had no energy to even lift a hand to smack him.

Orihime looked at Kon. "You're right." She turned slowly towards Ichigo and hugged him through the blanket. Kon tugged at the blanket, causing Orihime to pull back. She realized that Kon was trying to get her to give Ichigo a better hug. She pulled the blanket down and helped Ichigo up into a sitting position. She slowly wrapped her arms around him. She didn't know if he was in pain, or could even feel pain, so she wanted to be gentle. She lowered her head down to his shoulder and exhaled deeply. Kon nodded and looked at Ichigo. His eyes were wider and Kon could see the struggle within them. Kon then saw Ichigo's hands shake and realized he was trying to lift his hands. Kon ran over to Ichigo and lifted up his right arm, giving him the best support he could while Ichigo continued to try and raise his arms. Orihime could feel this, and knew that she could not let go. She could not let him feel like she was pitying him by saying it was ok or by changing positions so it was easier for him. She had to stay as she was and let him do this. She closed her eyes and focused her thoughts on the arms behind her. She imagined them holding her tight and the warmth that she felt from the strong hands. She could feel something on her back now. He let out one final grunt and the hand was heavily placed on her right shoulder. She hugged him tighter and watched as Kon went over to the left hand and they repeated the process. This time, it took almost a minute for the left hand to finally find its place. They sat there, arms locked in place, staying quiet and not letting the other break free. Kon sat back down once it looked like Ichigo was ok. "You did it Ichigo. Now take as much time as you need. I'll leave you two alone." Kon hopped down and rounded the corner into the hallway.

Orihime finally spoke. "Good job Ichigo. You've come so far. I'm so proud of you." She smiled and slowly moved up and kissed his cheek. He jolted and she was startled by the movement that she almost let go. "Kuro.."

"Kiss me again." His voice was still hoarse and quiet, but it had a bit more clarity in it than last time. Orihime kissed him again on the cheek and then took her place back on his shoulder. She smiled and spoke softly into his ear.

"I'm glad I could help. Would you still like to keep hugging, or do you want to lay back down and rest?" Ichigo slowly angled his body towards her, and she lifted her head up to let him do that. She felt his hand move slowly up her back until he had his hand positioned behind her head. She flushed immensely at this and looked up to see that he was looking right at her.

"Close your eyes Orihime."

Her stomach tightened, and she was pretty sure she stopped breathing. She closed her eyes and was surprised when she could feel her head being pulled. Moments ago, he didn't have the energy to speak. She felt her lips connect with his and she could immediately feel the energy flow between it. It was intense. She felt his hand lower back down to her back, which made the kiss even more intense. Kon picked this time to peek out from the hallway. He chuckled and plopped down on the floor with a satisfied look. Orihime finally pulled away and let in a large breath, taking a moment to catch her breath. Her arms were still wrapped around him. She looked up and could see him smiling in a weird way.

"What is it?"

"I feel good. A lot better than I did before. I think it might have been the kisses."

Orihime's face couldn't get any redder. She giggled and gave him a quick kiss before asking, "Do you think we should stop hugging for now? I..I mean only if you feel better. I can hug you all day if it would help."

He chuckled. "You can let go now. As much as I want to stay in your arms forever, I'd like to try out how I feel now." He looked over at her as she let go. Her eyes said there were a million things running through her mind. Her arms dropped to her sides and she seemed to be mumbling to herself. He smirked again and lifted her chin with his hand. Their eyes met and he said the one thing she wasn't expecting to hear. "I think I'm falling in love with you Inoue Orihime. I hope you can one day feel the same way." She struggled to reply. No words were coming out, only noises. He leaned in and kissed her again. He rose up from the couch slowly and left Orihime in her dazed state on the couch. He walked around slowly, knowing that he may have gotten an energy boost, but he was still very much low on energy. He walked over to Kon, who was still seated on the floor. "Hey."

Kon looked up. "Hey."

"Got any more ideas on how I can regain energy?"

Kon thought about it for a moment and then ran off. Ichigo shrugged and walked back over to Orihime, who had not moved yet. He looked at her, but could feel a sudden rush of something coming over him and he quickly moved in front of Orihime as a knife bounced off his chest and onto the floor.

"What the hell was that for Kon?!"

"You said you wanted more sources of energy, so I thought I'd try this. Your desire to protect her probably gave you a good boost. How do you feel?"

Ichigo had been clenching his fists, but loosened up as he realized he felt better. This was not going to be an option. He was not going to risk her life just so that he can feel better. "Absolutely do not do that again or I will have you hanging from the clothesline."

Kon shrugged. "Yeah, yeah."

Ichigo then sat on the couch and looked at Orihime. It looked like she had teared up, so Ichigo ran his hand under her eyes and grabbed her tears. "Don't cry. Sorry if I said something that upset you. I'm try..."

"I'm falling for you too!"

"You are?"

Orihime's eyes shut and she lowered her head. "Over these past few weeks, I've grown to know you so well and the more time I spend with you, the harder for me it is to think of you leaving. Every moment with you feels so, I don't know, real. My heart flutters around you and my dreams have only been of you. I can't get you out of my head, but I don't think I want you out." She opened her eyes and looked up. "When you have your regular body, do you think you could stay here a while?"

Without hesitation, he answered, "Of course I would. I think I'd want to travel around a bit once I'm able to, but I want a place to come home to. Right now, that home is with you."

They kissed again, and held each other for a few moments. Finally feeling relieved that their feelings were out there. At that moment, Orihime's stomach decided to announce its disapproval of the lack of food inside it. Orihime shrieked and got up from the couch with a nervous laugh. "I guess I should go make some food. You lay there and rest."

Ichigo nodded and laid back down, pulling the blanket over him and watching Orihime go in and out of the kitchen. He looked back up at the ceiling when the phone rang. Orihime answered it and it sounded like it was exciting news. He could hear her excited squeaks and chuckled at how cute she could be. She ran back into the living room and made the announcement. "Your body is done!"


	10. Chapter 10

Orihime skipped over to Ichigo after hanging up with Urahara. "Urahara-san will be dropping it off. I told him how you have been having trouble with the gigai, but were still in it, and he said that would be fine for now. He will be over tomorrow morning, so you get some rest." She walked over and tucked in the blanket around him. She slowly sat down beside him and ran her hand through his hair. He looked over to her and gave a half smile. "Can I get you anything, Ichigo?"

Ichigo shook his head. "You've done so much for me, I want to pay you back for it in some way. Can I take you out for dinner in my new body?"

Orihime looked nervous and pulled away from him, placing her hands on her pants and grabbing the fabric to prepare herself for what she was about to say. "Actually, Urahara-san said he was bringing a friend along and is offering to pay for us to go to dinner. He said that Kuchiki-san and Abarai-san will be along as well. We will all be going out for dinner once you are able to. He said that he doesn't need a place to stay though. I don't know where he's going to find a hotel for four people in this area, but I'll leave that up to him." Ichigo mumbled and turned away. The air was thick, and Orihime could feel the difference easily. She thought about it for a moment, then realized with a reddening of the cheeks that Ichigo was probably upset that more than them would be going out. She chuckled at this thought and saw Ichigo turn back in confusion. Orihime shook her head. "It's nothing. I just think it's so cute that you're getting upset that we can't go to dinner alone." She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. "You may not get the first dinner, but there will be plenty more firsts for you to accomplish." Ichigo looked back again in a look that said, 'that can be interpreted many ways.' Orihime smiled and exhaled loudly as she popped back up off the couch. "You rest now. I'm going to finish making dinner and then maybe we can watch a show or play a game." Ichigo merely nodded and let out a small smile. Orihime seemed to be unnerved by it, but she figured he was tired and wanted to rest.

She finished her meal at the table while chatting with Kon, who was sitting on the table. They could hear Ichigo groan a few times, but it didn't seem to be anything major. After a while, Orihime had cleaned the dishes and was ready to have some relaxing time. As they were finishing up in the kitchen, Kon and Orihime suddenly felt very heavy and the room seemed to be charged. A sense of dread came over her, and she looked down at Kon, who was already on the floor, but was now on his paws, trying to regain his bearings. Her mind snapped back to reality. "Ichigo!" Her voice hoarse and full of worry. Orihime and Kon ran out of the kitchen and saw Ichigo standing. "Are you ok Ichigo?"

She took a step closer, but Kon grabbed her leg. "No, stay here." His voice low and serious. She looked down at him with her concern showing easily. She looked back at Ichigo and tried to observe the situation. Ichigo was standing next to the couch. The blanket thrown to the side. He was standing there, smiling, but it wasn't the smile she knew. She could feel the heaviness almost push her to the floor. His stare towards her was something that she hadn't seen before. His eyes looked like they had found prey. Finally, with a shaking voice, she spoke.

"What's going on Ichigo?"

He took a step forward and smirked. "King's not here right now."

Orihime looked down at Kon, who gave a shrug in mutual confusion. Kon took a few steps and stood in front of Orihime. "Who are you?" This further confused Orihime. Kon knows who Ichigo is. Her heart nearly leaped out upon hearing what he said in response.

"Who knows."

Kon stepped forward. "You are not welcome here. Bring back Ichigo."

A horrible cackle could be heard as a reply. Orihime was now shaking. She had no clue what was going on, but somehow, the person in front of them was not Ichigo. "Nah, I like this little experiment King is doing. Plus, he really knows how to get the ladies." Orihime stepped back and almost tripped over the chair.

"Bring Ichigo back!" She screamed with trembling fingers grasping for the chair. He began walking towards her until he seemed to have stopped mid step. Orihime grabbed the chair and waved it towards him. He easily dodged it. The smirk returning to the face that was not his.

"You're quick with that. Why don't you step closer and try again."

Orihime repositioned her grip, but a voice came through her clouded thoughts before she could step. "Don't move Orihime! Put the chair down." She could hear Kon's voice, but couldn't see him. She did what he said and placed the chair back.

"Kon, where are you?"

"Down here."

She looked down to find Kon under the table. She then took note of something white near him. She followed it with her watery eyes and saw that she was standing in a white ring. "What is this?"

"It's salt. I got it from the big container in the cabinet. You should be ok in here until we can figure out what to do." Kon saw how confused she looked and explained. "Salt is a symbol of purity. Most negative spirits can't get through the salt, so anything inside the area is protected, for now." He rubbed his face in annoyance. "Just get down here. You don't have to understand it, just please follow my instructions." Orihime crouched down and lifted Kon up to her ear. "Urahara actually thought this might happen, so he gave me something to do to get the bad spirit out. Listen up, I'm going to recite a sutra. After I do it, take me out of this body and try to get him to get close to you so you can force me down his throat. It should get Ichigo and the bad spirit out of the body and then I can keep reciting if I need to once I'm in the gigai. Got it?" Orihime nodded, though she worried she wouldn't be able to get close to him.

"Secrets don't keep friends." They looked up to find him mere inches away from them, leaning over. Kon jumped out of Orihime's hands and began reciting.

"Om namo Bhagavatayai Arya-Prajnaparamitayai !" He grunted and showed obvious malice towards Kon.

"You bastard!"

"Om, Gate, Gate, Paragate, Para Samgate Bodhi Svaha! Now Orihime!"

The bad spirit put his hands to his head and began yelling towards the ceiling. In one quick movement, Orihime took the mod soul out and stepped one foot out of the circle to grab him by the back of the neck and use his yelling as an opportunity to shove the mod soul into his mouth. She stepped back into the circle and watched as he swallowed. A gust of wind came and she could see a form that looked like Ichigo rise up from the gigai and disappear. She could see his eyes. They were mixed with emotion and she wasn't sure it was completely Ichigo that she saw. Kon, now in the gigai, ran over to Orihime.

"You ok?"

Orihime gave the best smile she could. "I'm fine." A moment passed. "You were amazing Kon! I would never be able to recite something that fast!"

Kon gave a huge grin. "Yeah, I was pretty awesome, wasn't I?" They both giggled and it broke out into a full laugh before long. Orihime didn't know why she was laughing at such a time. She thought maybe the shock was short circuiting her brain. Eventually, they stopped and Orihime began pondering what to do next.

"What can we do from here, Kon?"

"Well, Urahara will be here tomorrow, so we will just have to keep inside the circle until morning."

Orihime began to whine. "Aw Kon, can't we at least put salt around the couch? Oh and salt to the bathroom and to the door."

Kon was about to say she didn't have enough, but then he had an idea. "Hey, do you have any salt outside to melt ice?"

Her face lighted up. "I do! But how are we going to get out there?"

"We're just going to have to risk it. Just stay by me and we should be ok. We should just spread it around the entire house, that way, we can move around freely."

"Oh that would be great! I wanted some tea! Salt first though."

Orihime moved slowly out of the circle, and then they both quickly moved outside. She grabbed her coat and quickly put on her boots, causing her to stumble as she tried to walk and pull them on. They made it to the garage and found the salt. Kon took the heavy bag and began running around the house. Orihime had to shovel to get him out of some areas, but they were pretty confident the salt was adequate. They ran inside and left the salt by the door. They both sighed as they made it back. Orihime was relieved nothing had happened, but the reality of the situation kicked in and she began to feel a tightness in her throat. With a voice barely above a whisper, she spoke.

"Kon, do you think we will be able to bring the good Ichigo back? How did this happen? He was fine a minute ago."

Kon took her arm and guided her to the couch, where he wrapped her in the same blanket. "You lay here and rest. I'll make you tea." He saw the pain in her eyes. "I don't know how or why good spirits become bad. Urahara never explained it to me. My guess is that they have unfinished business or they are under too much stress. Ichigo has been trying hard to stay in this body. That may have sent him over the edge. Or he's always had that other side in him. He was just too weak at the time to keep control." Orihime's expression remained unchanged. Kon grabbed her hands and put them in his. "We will bring him back. Don't worry. Urahara will be here tomorrow. He's the one who taught me that sutra. He has to know what to do. Now, I'll get you that tea. You stay here and watch a show to take your mind off of everything."

Orihime gave a weak smile. "Thank you Kon. You are a good friend."

"Hey, no prob. Maybe later you will let me snuggle up to your.." A pillow was thrown and hit him square in the face.

"No way!" Her voice was serious, but her face finally showed a bit more relaxed expression. Kon smiled and gave the pillow back.

"I'll go make you that tea now."

Orihime leaned back and turned on the TV. She hoped with all her heart that tomorrow will be the beginning of something great.

_Note: Thank you for all the reviews. They help me decide where to go with the story. I originally didn't have this chapter as part of the story, but after watching too many Supernatural episodes one day, I decided I needed this part. _


	11. Chapter 11

Orihime woke up on the couch. Her hair matted and last night's clothes still on. She had been talking with Kon until almost midnight about mostly what to do if Ichigo were to stay as he was and what to do if he broke through. Kon sat and listened. As much as he just wanted to hold her curves and make it all better, he knew he needed to stay composed. When she drifted off, he put a blanket around her and left the room to let her sleep.

As she rose slowly from the couch, she noticed Kon was leaning back on the other side of the couch. He wasn't moving, so Orihime scooted across the couch and poked him in the face. For science of course. She never thought mod souls would need sleep. She poked his lifeless form again, this time harder. Kon yelled out in response and sprang up, only to knock into Orihime, causing both to fall back.

"Ow, why were you poking me so hard?"

"For science!" Her fist in the air.

"Huh?"

"I thought mod souls wouldn't sleep."

"Oh, I guess it's more of an energy saver mode than sleep. I can't sleep the way a human does, but it's close enough."

Orihime looked intrigued. "Interesting."

Kon looked at the time while trying to not feel awkward at Orihime's sudden closeness. "Uh, Orihime-chan? Urahara will be here soon. You should get ready."

She looked at her watch quickly. "Oh, you're right! I better go." She rushed over to her bedroom and then into the bathroom. Kon sighed and brushed himself off. Looking in a mirror to make sure he didn't have a bruise. A few moments later, there was a knock at the door. Kon rushed over to the door and opened it quickly, causing a rush of air to bring in the snow from the outside. Kon covered his eyes for a moment, then looked out to find four people standing there. A voice came through the flurries.

"Ah, Kon, so good to see you again. This is Yoruichi, my good friend. You of course know Abarai-san and Kuchiki-san." Kon bowed and stepped back to let them in. "Oh my, Inoue-san sure has a nice place. Where is she?" Kon shut the door behind everyone and waited a moment for everyone to take their boots off. Kon directed them to the living room to all sit down.

"Well Urahara-san, inoue's in the bathroom getting ready." His voice was low and his eyes looking down at the floor. "There was an issue last night."

"I can see that by the fact that you're in the gigai. Tell us what happened."

Orihime quickly finished in the bathroom and could hear Kon talking. 'They must be here!' She thought. She scrambled out the door just as Kon was done talking. She bowed low. "Forgive me everyone!" She shot up and noticed the unfamiliar face. Yoruichi smiled and got up.

"Pleased to meet you Inoue, I'm Yoruichi Shihouin"

"Ah, yes! Pleased to meet you Shihouin-san."

"Please, call me Yoruichi."

Orihime nodded. "So, Inoue-san" Urahara stood up and walked towards her. "Kon has us up to speed on what happened. Once I got caught up on what happened, I was going to remove the salt so that Ichigo, or Hichigo can come in."

"Hichigo?" Orihime wondered.

Kon piped up. "That was my idea. It means hated Ichigo!" Orihime smiled at his face of awkward determination that only Kon could show.

"If you don't mind Inoue-san, I'd like to remove the salt now." Orihime nodded, but noticed the large trunk he had with him, which she assumed was the real body. She had a pit in her stomach that suddenly grew to the size of a melon as she fought back the urge to cry. Urahara walked over to the door and kicked the salt. He walked back inside and sat back down. "Now Inoue-san, I'd like you to try calling out to Ichigo." Everyone was seated except Orihime. She clasped her hands and closed her eyes. She called out slowly to Ichigo, hoping that she could focus on imagining where he was. Several minutes passed of her calling to him with no success. Orihime sighed deeply and sat on the edge of the couch by Yoruichi. Yoruichi put a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry about it too much. We can find him. Let's sit and chat for a while." Orihime agreed and they all sat back making small talk for a few minutes. As the room was becoming strangely quiet, everyone felt the unmistakable energy of Ichigo.

"Ichigo!" Orihime yelled and stood up from the couch, frantically calling out to him as she paced the living room. Slowly in front of everyone, Ichigo began to form. Orihime's eyes began to tear up and she stepped back until Ichigo was fully formed. A look of fear, and shame was plastered on his face. Orihime ran to him and immediately hugged him as hard as she could, her mumbled voice over the tears gave a strange sense of peace to Ichigo, despite being so fearful of what had happened. He held her close and could feel the strong emotion from everyone.

"Welcome back Kurosaki-san. We all heard what happened yesterday. Do you remember any of that?" Urahara asked.

Ichigo pulled away from Orihime and stood in front of Urahara. "I do. I could see everything, but I couldn't move my spirit body. I don't know how that's possible."

"Do you feel the other spirit now?" Urahara asked, looking very serious.

"Not really. I almost feel a kind of lingering sadness or hate, but it feels pretty far away."

"That's good. The sutra Kon recited helped. Nonetheless, we need to tread lightly and make sure that Hichigo is suppressed enough that he won't cause a problem. We may have to do an exorcism on you once you are in the permanent body. That will be very difficult. We have to only exorcise Hichigo and not you as well." Urahara's eyes widened. "I know someone who could do this."

Ichigo's face tightened. "Well, call him up, bring him over. If he's the best for this, we should get him here right away." Ichigo paused, looking at Urahara. "Why do you look so upset?"

Urahara sighed and stepped back. "The person who can perform this healing of good soul and banishing of bad soul is your father Ichigo, Isshin Kurosaki." There was a mutual gasp amongst everyone. Urahara looked at Ichigo, then continued. "Your father knows that you are trying to regain a body. He has a hard time accepting that you can essentially be brought back from the dead. He believes what we are doing is not the natural order of things and what is dead should stay dead.

Ichigo's fists clenched. "That bastard."

Urahara raised his hand. "However, you are still his son, and he would give anything to see you have a normal life again."

Ichigo's hand loosened, and he looked down. The pain showing deep on his face. "I have to get in the body now. Even if it takes my dad a month to get here, I need to have my senses back and be able to get used to the body so that I am strong enough to handle the exorcism."

"I agree with you Kurosaki-san. You should get in the body now, but let me chant a few sutras just to be sure. Urahara began reciting a few sutras, making sure Ichigo didn't look to be in distress. He only looked impatient, which slightly amused Urahara. When he was done, he opened the trunk and there sitting in it, was his body. It looked exactly like him. He was dressed very simply in jeans and a t-shirt, but to Orihime, it was the most wonderful thing she had ever seen. While everyone helped get the body onto the couch, Orihime stood back and sobbed softly to herself. She knew she had to stay strong and believe that this will work, but she felt in the back of her mind that Hichigo would take over, or Ichigo's dad would mess up the exorcism and she would lose him forever. Kon saw her in distress and put his hand on her shoulder, causing her to stop shaking. "It'll be ok Orihime-chan. Let's go over by them." Orihime nodded softly and sat down next to the new body.

Renji finally spoke. "Ya better get in that body fast."

Ichigo looked down at Orihime. She stood up and gave him a hug. "The next time I hug you, it'll be better. Good luck. You can do it." He smiled briefly, then looked at the lifeless body in front of him. The four shinigami began forming kido around the body and Ichigo. Urahara handed him the same concoction that he gave Ichigo at his place. Ichigo's eyes widened at the energizing drink and drank it in one gulp. The energy flowed in him and he felt the same surge as last time. Trying not to yell out at the sudden rush, he looked down at Orihime again. She was holding the hand of the new body and looking up at him with a smile that melted his heart. Her other hand reached out and grabbed his. "It's time Kurosaki-kun." Urahara said with his kido intensifying. "It's the same as getting into the temporary gigai. Remember how you felt, and what you did." Ichigo looked at Orihime one more time and closed his eyes. He could feel the connection, but it was hard to get to. He tried several times. Renji was starting to get tired from using kido and had to sit down.

"Get up Renji!" Rukia ordered. He popped back up and wiped the sweat from his brow. They all kept quiet as Ichigo continued to struggle. Orihime tightened her grip on Ichigo's hand, but realized that he was probably trying to keep his grip on her and it may be distracting.

"Hey Ichigo. I'm going to let go of your hand now. Please use our energy. I believe in you." Ichigo looked over, pain in his eyes, but a smile forming slowly on his lips. She looked up at him with a noticeable blush. She softly spoke to his very soul with the words he needed to hear. "I love you." The words were soft and breathy, but she smiled with a warmth that sent him the energy he needed. With one final yell, he tried one last time and found the connection. He entered the body and immediately passed out. Orihime let go of his hand and looked at Urahara. He grabbed something that looked like a watch and put it on him. He turned it on and moved so he could see the screen. He smiled.

"He's in." Everyone cheered and Renji fell over onto the couch. Orihime hugged everyone and wiped away tears as they just kept falling. Urahara sat down and configured more on the device. "Inoue-san, I want you to see how this works." She sat down and Urahara moved Ichigo's arm over to where she could see. "This indicator bar will show how complete the connection is. When the connection is at the top and turns green, he will be completely connected with this body and will never leave it again. Right now, as you can see, he is in the red. It is quite low, but I see it very slowly moving up. We just have to wait now and make sure he is comfortable. It should take a few hours for him to wake up. By then, the indicator should be about half way. We can all go out to eat then. The introduction of food into him will certainly help. Especially if we go to a place where he can get his favorite foods. Do you know what those are Inoue-san?"

"He told me he likes anything with chocolate in it and mentaiko, especially karashi mentaiko."

"Ok, we will just have to find a nice place that has dessert as well as spicy dishes. Now we should let him rest. I'm not going to get his father until he is fully in the body. In the meantime, why don't we all go out for breakfast? My treat."

"All right! I am going to get the most expensive thing I can find!" Renji said enthusiastically. Everyone laughed and Rukia squeezed Renji's hand. He looked down at her as she let go. They smiled and she walked over to Orihime.

Yoruichi looked excited. "Oh Orihime, you have to take us shopping in Sapporo. Rukia and I need nice dresses for tonight. Plus the guys need suits. She winked at Urahara."

Urahara smirked. "Yes, Renji, we should go find Ichigo a suit, Kon, would you stay and watch Ichigo for us? Call if anything happens."

"Roger!"

Orihime kissed Ichigo on the cheek before she left. "You stay and rest. We will be back soon." They all walked out the door and Orihime waved to Kon before stepping out and locking the door behind her. Kon leaned back and turned on the TV. He looked over at Ichigo. "You have it made. You have a sleek new body, a beautiful woman that loves you, a great house. You have it all." Kon shook his head. "What am I saying? I guess everyone can get jealous once in a while, huh?" Kon grabbed the remote and settled in. "Just wake up soon."


	12. Chapter 12

Her mind was elsewhere. Her eyes saw the dress Yoruichi was holding up to her, but she was not completely there with them. All she could do was give a quick smile and nod. She didn't really care how she looked in the dress. She just wanted to get back home.

Back at Orihime's house, Kon had taken a walk to clear his head. It was annoying to just sit there and watch Ichigo. He walked quickly through the forest near the house and felt refreshed as he opened the door. What he saw next stopped him in his tracks. Ichigo was awake. More than awake, he was standing.

"Ichigo, you're up!" Kon walked over and watched as weak eyes stared back at him. "Uh...can I get you anything?" Ichigo's mouth opened, but only noises came out. He cleared his throat and tried again.

"W..wa..water."

"Oh right." Kon rushed over to the kitchen and got Ichigo the tallest glass of water he could find. When he came back in, Ichigo was leaning on the wall. Kon gave him the water and he tried sipping, nearly choking on the liquid from how dry his mouth was. He drank slowly, and after a few minutes, was able to finish the water. Kon took Ichigo's arm up to look closer at the indicator. He saw it raise just a bit, now the color was an orange. "All right! It looks like that helped. Do you want anything else?"

Ichigo pulled his arm back weakly and looked at Kon. "Orihime's co...cooking."

Kon smiled and ran back into the kitchen. A few minutes later, Kon returned with some rice porridge. She had added apples and cinnamon to it and the place smelled like it from heating it up. Ichigo smelled the air and then pulled up the blanket he had wrapped up around him. "Do you want to sit?" Ichigo nodded and walked back to the couch slowly. Kon put the bowl on the table and Ichigo took the bowl and put the spoon to his mouth. The first bite was like a thousand sparks went off in his head. He could feel it move down his throat and hit his stomach. This was probably a good choice for food since he hadn't eaten in technically 5 years. Over the next 15 minutes, he ate the porridge and listened to Kon's stories. He didn't mind hearing them now, because all he wanted to do was laugh. He wanted to regain as much energy as he can, so when Orihime came home, he would be able to properly walk to her and give her their first kiss in the new body.

It was getting to be after 4, and there was still no sign of anyone. Ichigo had since eaten the porridge, a banana, more water, and some liquid vitamins that he found. He was actually feeling pretty good and even had to double check his watch to see that the indicator was now almost yellow. He was now determined to get it to the maximum and be permanently in the body before they got back. He paced through the house and even did a few push ups, frantically looking at the indicator the whole time. Kon sat back and watched. He continued to tell amusing stories to get Ichigo to laugh, which he liked versus being shoved in a bag or punched in the face. Those were the usual reactions to his stories, so this was definitely better for him as well. Ichigo ran into Orihime's room looking for another pillow to use. He paused for a moment and then flopped down onto the bed. He got under the covers and laid there, looking up at the ceiling. He was suddenly filled with content. He knew that he would be able to look up at the ceiling again. That when he turned over, she would be there smiling back at him. A stray tear left his eye and he wiped it away quickly. He needed to protect her from anything that would tarnish that smile. He knew that he had found the person that he would want to be with. He got up and made the bed again. As he sat on the edge of the bed, he looked over and saw a picture of Orihime with Tatsuki and brought it over to him. He looked at it for a while and then placed it back on the nightstand. "I love you Orihime. Let's spend this life together." He could hear something drop and turned around. There in the doorway was Orihime. Tearing up and looking at a surprised Ichigo, she walked slowly over to him. He smiled and stood up. Her eyes were too full of tears to see clearly. She tried to think of what to say, but nothing came out. Her stomach was in knots and her mind was racing. They met at the end of the bed and she looked up at his soft smile. He put his hand on her cheek and wiped away her tears. With one quick move, he had her in his arms. She returned the hug and placed her ear to his chest. She could hear his heart racing and was overcome with the reality that he was actually going to be there now. She looked up to his now tear filled eyes and they leaned in for their first kiss. It was soft and gentle, filled with emotion, and not long enough. Orihime looked down to Ichigo's arm and thought about the watch. She grabbed his arm and looked at it. The flashing congratulations and animated balloons gave away the obvious. The indicator was now green. Ichigo glanced over, but already knew that it had happened. He was now human again. Urahara strolled into the room. "Ah, congratulations Ichigo. You did it!" Everyone else walked over and cheered. Ichigo put out his hand to shake Urahara's. Urahara took it and gave a firm handshake then pulled him in and gave him a hug. "Thank you." Ichigo's voice was hoarse and his hand was shaking, but Urahara took his other hand and steadied his shoulder.

"You are very welcome." Ichigo looked and saw Kon jumping behind everyone, cheering when everyone else had stopped. Ichigo looked over at Orihime, who nodded. They seemed to have the same idea.

"Urahara, is there anything that you can do for Kon? He has been such a help to both myself and Orihime. I just wish he wouldn't have to return to the mod soul ball again." Urahara held up his fan and turned to Kon.

"As a matter of fact, I was thinking the same thing. How about it Kon, would you like to customize a body for yourself?" Kon's eyes widened to size of saucers. Everyone was looking back and smiling at him. He backed up and shot his arm into the air. "Hell yeah!"Everyone burst out laughing as Kon ran through the house, jumping on furniture and dancing in the hallway. Everyone slowly moved out into the living room. Ichigo grabbed Orihime's hand and she blushed at the contact. This seemed different. She no longer felt the strong positive and negative emotions that she had experienced for weeks. Once he grabbed her hand, it all melted away.

Kon had to be held down while he still celebrated. Urahara knew that they would want Kon to have a body because Kon had really stepped up and done a good job being there for them. Urahara had pre-packed a full gigai that Kon could use for the night. It was younger looking, thin and tall with short shaggy blond hair and stubble. Urahara had this one in storage. He was trying to make a younger version of himself, but ended up messing up on it and threw it in storage until the time came to use it again. He chuckled at how this dusty old gigai that he had nearly thrown away was now going to get so much use and be so valuable to Kon. He pulled it out of the trunk and Kon lit up with even more excitement. "It's perfect! I don't want to make a new one. I want this one! Look at that lean form and chiseled jaw. I look sexy!" Everyone was nearly on the floor laughing. The movements he was making while talking just added to the amusement. Urahara openly laughed without hiding it behind his fan.

Everyone calmed down and Urahara spoke. "Kon, this is a full gigai, but you can't stay in it for too long. We can make more modifications to it later. If this is the one that you'd like it'd make it much easier seeing as how this was just in the back of storage and saves me space anyway."

Kon grabbed the gigai. "How could you be so mean! You can't let a stunning face like this go unseen." Urahara rolled his eyes and knocked the mod soul out of the temp gigai and into the new one. Kon popped up and took a look at himself in the mirror.

"The rest of you better get ready. Kon will be there for a while."

Everyone changed their clothes into their suits and dresses. All the men wore black suits with various shades of ties. Ichigo's suit was a three piece, and he wore a red-orange tie that looked good with his hair. Rukia's dress was navy with slightly lighter lace and beaded accents that made the dress look elegant and yet innocent. She wore taller heels that Renji joked now made her almost to his chest. Yoruichi's was black and sleek with a high slit. She showed it off to Urahara, who gave an approving nod. Orihime stepped out of her room and all eyes were on her. Kon spoke first. "Oh mama, that's more like it!" Orihime blushed and wanted to walk away. She wore a strapless red dress that flattered her form very well while being somewhat modest. She had found jewelry that complimented the dress and gave her a little extra confidence that hopefully they were looking at the jewelry and not her form fitting dress. Renji looked over at Ichigo, who had his mouth open slightly and Renji snickered. He shoved Ichigo, sending him back to reality.

"Lucky bastard." Ichigo scowled at him, then looked down at Rukia, who was giving Renji the death stare again. Renji knew she was doing this and continued. "Not as lucky as me though." He smiled wide and nudged Rukia. All death stares stopped and she stepped closer with a smile and blushing cheeks.

Orihime took a quick glance around. "Um...I don't think I have enough room in my car."

Urahara, now cleaned up and looking dashing, opened the door. "I already arranged for a carriage to take us." There was a collective, "A carriage?!" From everyone except Yoruichi.

Yoruichi smirked. "We didn't forget about you either Kon. The driver of the carriage is a feisty mod soul we gave a full gigai to as well. Go and meet her." Kon's eyes brightened and he raced out the door without saying a word. Everyone could hear them yelling perverted lines to each other and it made Orihime feel happy that Urahara thought about Kon's feelings as well. They all stepped out to see the beautiful carriage pulled by white horses. Urahara called out to the driver, who was busy being ogled by Kon.

"Oh Kana, do you have the steps to put down for the ladies?"

"Huh? Oh yeah. Sorry, this weirdo wants me to talk more about how good he looks. Ya got yourself a dandy Urahara." Kana walked around and put the step down in front of the door. She was beautiful with long red hair and fair skin. She wore a green dress that looked nice, but still comfortable. Kana saw the looks in Orihime's face. She grinned. "Don't worry about me, I can handle driving this thing while lookin' all fancied up. If not, I can bribe the pervert to drive for me if I offer to show him some skin." Orhime chuckled weakly and was the first to be led by Ichigo up to the carriage. Renji went next helping up Rukia. Finally, Yoruichi was led up. Kon sat up front with Kana and there were heaters on the floor that kept the open carriage warm enough. As they carriage took off, Orihime scooted in closer to Ichigo. He wrapped his arm around her and they both watched their home as it got smaller and smaller. They both felt homesick already and wanted to be back soon. The sound of Kon getting hit in the head knocked them out of their thoughts and they both laughed as Kon started arguing with Kana. Orihime looked around and saw that everyone was smiling and looking at their dates. She looked up to Ichigo and saw him looking back. She shifted again and rested in his arms, hoping the romantic ride would take extra roads and take as long as they can because she never wanted to leave from his arms.

_**Note:** Thank you to all for reading. There are only a few chapters left. I will update as soon as I actually write it! I also would like some feedback on a short story I'd like to write starring my other favorite Bleach couple, Rukia and Renji. I can't decide which plot I'd like to go with. Help me decide. Plot 1: Rukia and Renji lived in the distant future where time travel was possible. Renji's travel device malfunctioned and he is stuck in the American west of the 1870s. Rukia travels back to save him, but finds that he lost his memories and is now a notorious thief. Plot 2: Rukia is the queen of a kingdom. She leaves on a mission to see what life in her kingdom is really like. She has her trusted bodyguard Renji with her, who fights to protect her in the slums of her kingdom. _


	13. Chapter 13

Orihime looked over to Ichigo. His face was that of total satisfaction. He had ordered small portions of over 5 different foods and now he was sitting back, the chocolate cake that had been brought out just for him now in pieces. She reached over and touched his hand. "You're probably going to feel sick tomorrow."

"I don't care." He smiled through heavy breaths. Orihime smiled and looked around. The rest were in conversation with each other, and she wondered if she should join in since Ichigo was already in a food coma. Just then she heard Urahara speak.

"Well everyone, we should be heading back. I'm sure Ichigo would like to get some rest after such a long day." Renji moaned in disapproval in unison with Yoruichi. Everyone finally got up slowly and walked to the carriage.

"Yo Urahra. Are we heading back to your place after this?" Renji asked.

"Yes, we can all go back to my place after we drop these love birds off."

Orihime didn't even hear him. She was too busy helping Ichigo into the carriage. He apologized probably ten times, hiccuping the whole time. The one beer had sent him over the edge due to the new body. She knew life was not going to be like the romance stories she read, so she knew that this was part of their journey ahead. The trip back was a little louder. Kana had Kon install a lamp over the group and everyone looked around to how the lamp was shining on the scenery around them. It made it feel warm despite the cold winds. Everyone except Ichigo felt comfortable and they were able to laugh at Ichigo's attempts to insult Renji while trying to not throw up. They arrived to Orihime's house and everyone waved to them and said their goodbyes. Ichigo got out a wave and then leaned against Orihime for support as she helped him inside. His next apology sent Orihime's heart in a knot.

"Orihime, I'm really sorry I'm like this. I was just so excited to finally be able to eat and drink that I must have gone overboard. I shouldn't have gone to such excess."

Orihime shook her head while helping him up the stairs and through the door. "You were eating small portions, but you didn't know that it would be so difficult the first time. I must admit I've never seen anyone get this drunk over one Sapporo." She chuckled softly as she took off her coat and shoes and helped Ichigo out of his coat and shoes and over to the couch, where he gave a relieved sigh. His head stayed back on the couch and his arms were spread out against the back of the couch. Orihime grabbed some water and Ichigo gladly drank it all. As Orihime was bringing the glass back, she looked back to him. The way the light was hitting him and with such a nice suit on, he looked like some kind of mafia boss or someone that you see in the movies. She blushed and looked away. There was no denying that despite his sickened state, he still looked very handsome. She came back in and sat down next to him. She then noticed the even breaths and realized that he had fallen asleep. She pulled his jacket off and laid him carefully on the pillow and then found a thin blanket to cover him. She turned off the lights and then walked over and touched her lips to his forehead. She ran her hand through his hair and whispered, "Good night." As she stood back up, he spoke in a whisper.

"I love you Orihime."

She knelt back over him and kissed him one more time. "I love you, too. Sleep well. "

The next morning, Orihime walked in her half awake state towards the kitchen. She could smell something cooking and the undeniable smell of coffee. She felt her mouth begin to water and she quickened her pace. As she rounded the corner to the kitchen, she saw that there was in fact food cooking. Ichigo looked up from the stove and smiled. "'Morning Hime."

"Good morning. Thank you for making breakfast." Her body moving towards the coffee and the fridge.

"Sure thing." There was silence for a while. "I got a call this morning that my dad is stopping by."

Orihime stopped before taking a sip of her coffee. She couldn't gauge the tone. "Is that bad?"

Ichigo shook his head. "Not really. I just wasn't expecting him to come over so quickly." Orihime nodded and they ate their breakfast in silence. Orihime was too lost in thought to talk. She wanted to have a good presence for Ichigo's dad. She wanted to make him feel like this was a good decision.

A few hours later, Orihime was dressed and was frantically trying to clean the house while Ichigo sat at the table, fidgeting with a cup of coffee. Finally, there was a knock at the door. Orihime ran into the kitchen to put the cleaning supplies away and wash her hands. Ichigo stood up and answered the door. The weather was actually sunny with not a cloud in the sky. Isshin looked up from under the rim of his fedora and smiled.

"Hi dad."

"Hi Ichigo." He leaned in and gave Ichigo a big hug. They hugged each other tightly without a single word being spoken. Finally he stepped in and took off his hat.

"Welcome Kurosaki-san."

"Hi Orihime-chan. Nice place you have here." They made small talk and she brought everyone tea.

"Dad, where are my sisters? I want to see them." Orihime stopped pouring more tea and could feel the change in energy in the room.

Isshin put down his tea. "I don't want you seeing them Ichigo."

"What?!"

Isshin held in the tears as they tried to escape from his eyes. "This is hard enough for me to handle. After your mother died, I approached Urahara and asked if there was anything he could do. We tried looking for your mother's spirit, but could never find it. Now with you being human again, it makes me overjoyed and yet completely heartbroken that it was possible." He took a deep breath in. "This is why it was so hard for me to accept that you were being basically brought back from the dead. We should not mess with such things, but, you're my son, and I would've given anything to see you again."

"Dad..."

Isshin sniffled and wiped his eyes with his shirt sleeve. Orihime dropped a box of tissues by him and he thanked her. "I don't want you seeing the girls because they have no idea that this sort of thing is possible. Knowing that you are alive again may be too much for them to handle."

"Well let them handle it! I don't want to live my whole life knowing that I have sisters out there that cry themselves to sleep knowing that half their family is gone." His fists tightened. "i just can't."

"Um, excuse me, but don't the sisters live here in Hokkaido? There is a possibility that they may see him. I think it's best if we gradually introduce the idea to them until they can meet him."

Both men sat in silence thinking about it for a moment. "I like the idea dad. It would be better if you just talked to them one night and told them what a gigai is and how it works."

Isshin shook his head. "I don't really know how. Urahara knows. I still don't want to subject them to such knowledge. Some people should be left in the dark so they can move about their day without so much care as to what else is going on."

He looked up at both of them and sighed. "I still don't like the idea; however, they live here too and they should be prepared if they ever see you." They both rejoiced at the decision. Everyone knew it was going to be hard, but it was for the best that Yuzu and Karin know. Isshin spoke up again. "So what are you going to be doing for a job Ichigo? No one would really want to hire someone with a 5 year gap in employment."

"He can work at my shop." Orihime spoke. She really wanted to ask him later, but she didn't want to let the opportunity slip by. "I usually need help in the spring when I first open, and I've wanted to expand the shop to include more merchandise like bakeware and maybe even have more food and drink options. What do you think Ichigo?"

"I'd love to. Thank you." He leaned over and kissed her on the lips softly. Orihime was flustered as she doesn't like public displays of affection, especially in front of a parent she barely knows. Her doubts were crushed quickly as Isshin let out a big laugh and smacked Ichigo in the back rambling about grandchildren and where he would take them. Everyone calmed and then Isshin took out his phone. "I'm going to try and make a three way call to Yuzu and Karin. I'd like to tell them now if possible." They both nodded and sat back. Orihime held Ichigo's hand tight as the phone rang.

"Hello? Yuzu? It's dad. Yeah I'm doing great. Say can you hold on for a minute? I want to get Karin on the phone too. Ok hold on." A few moments pass as Isshin tried to call Karin. "Karin? It's dad. Hold on, let me get Yuzu on the line. Ok, are you both there? Ok, let me put it on speaker." He set the phone down on the table.

"What's going on dad?" Karin's voice had the sound of concern.

"Well girls, let me tell you a story. When someone dies they still have spirit energy that can stay on the Earth for various reasons."

"What are you talking about?"

"Just listen Karin, please. Well sometimes spirits stay on the Earth if they have unfinished business or a deep desire to stay." He exhaled deeply. "This happened to your brother." He heard silence on the other lines, except for a faint gasp from Yuzu. He continued. "I have a friend who is sort of a mad scientist and can do many incredible things. He has an ability to basically create a body with organs and everything and insert that spirit energy in them." Yuzu made a confused sound, but Karin spoke right away.

"is this true dad? Is Ichigo in one of those bodies right now?"

Isshin chuckled. "You catch on quickly Karin. Yes, he is." Everyone could hear them both sobbing on the other line.

"How dad? How is it possible? Will Ichigo be like a normal person again? Will he be just like anyone else?"

"He sure will. He even has a beautiful girlfriend and a nice house to live in here in Hokkaido."

The sisters yelled "Hokkaido?!" in unison.

"Does this mean we can see him and talk to him?" Yuzu's voice was crackling.

Isshin nodded to Ichigo and he moved in closer to the phone.

"Hello Karin, Yuzu."

"Nii-san?" Yuzu's voice was barely audible and Karin could only be heard crying.

"I'm here now girls. It's so glad to hear your voices again. I will be working at Inoue Bakery this spring. Why don't you girls come and see me then?"

"Why would we wait so long to see you? We can go now!" Karin's voice was loud and crackled in the phone.

"I want you two to be safe. My girlfriend and I live far out of town and the roads can be dangerous here. We all know that. I want you to be patient and we can see each other when the weather is better. I can talk on the phone with you as much as you want. I can get the numbers from dad."

"Nii-san," Yuzu still chocked out.

"Nii-san, if you feel that's the best, we can do that." Karin's voice was still scratchy, but she recovered quickly. They made a bit more small talk and hung up. Orihime was even introduced. The phone call ended and They all sat back in a mutual feeling of relief. After an hour more of conversation, Isshin left, hugging both. As he hugged Orihime, he whispered into her ear.

"Take care of my son. I want both of you to be happy."

Orihime teared up and nodded. He left with a wave and the couple hugged as the door shut. "Oh Orihme, I am so glad that turned out ok."

"Me too. I can't wait to meet them. We should be able to go there in about two weeks to start setting up."

Ichigo put his hands on her face. "I have all the time in the world now. As long as I'm with you, there is nothing more important."

Orihime's eyes began to water and he leaned in for a deep kiss. She couldn't wait to finally relax and have a normal life with the man she loved. She couldn't be happier.

_**Note: Yay to finally being able to sit back and relax. the next chapter will be at the bakery and may possibly be the last. Thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed it.**_


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